@article {70486,
	title = {De novo pan-rhodamine binders for fluorescence microscopy from mammalian cells to extremophiles.},
	journal = {Cell},
	year = {2026},
	month = {2026 Sep 01},
	abstract = {<p>Fluorescent imaging in live cells is a cornerstone of life sciences. While natural fluorescent proteins have been engineered to enhance individual features, no existing tag combines ideal properties into a single system: high brightness, reversible binding, compact size, and stability across diverse conditions. Here, we achieve this through de novo design of rhodamine binders (Rhobin). To harness the broad repertoire of rhodamine fluorophores, we developed a generalizable design strategy for a pan-rhodamine binder compatible with diverse wavelengths and applications. Rhobin enables live- and fixed-cell imaging of various subcellular targets in mammalian cells, showing brightness surpassing existing tags. Its reversible fluorophore binding supports super-resolution stimulated emission depletion (STED) and live-cell single-molecule imaging for extended durations compared with HaloTag. Beyond conventional systems, Rhobin enables live imaging of the extremophile Sulfolobus acidocaldarius at 75{\textdegree}C, previously inaccessible with current tags. Together, these results establish Rhobin as a versatile platform for next-generation imaging and biosensor design.</p>
},
	issn = {1097-4172},
	doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2026.08.007},
	url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.08.007},
	author = {Chen, Yuda and Yserentant, Klaus and Hong, Kibeom and Chen, Kehan and Kuang, Yiming and Picardo, Robert S and Bhowmick, Arghya and Charles-Orszag, Arthur and Lord, Samuel J and Lu, Lei and Hou, Kaipeng and Mann, Samuel I and Bhattacharya, Sagar and Horst, Maggie and Grimm, Jonathan B and Lavis, Luke D and Mullins, R Dyche and DeGrado, William F and Huang, Bo}
}
