Dansylcadaverine is a fluorescent amine probe, which is believed to directly inhibit vesicular transport. Studies indicate that Dansylcadaverine can act as a marker used to study autophagy in the cytoplasm and vacuoles of plants and mammalian cells. Dansylcadaverine functions by marking the autophagosomes, which allows researchers to follow the molecular components of the process throughout. It is known that the specificity of Dansylcadaverine towards mammalian autophagosomes is due to ion trapping through the acidic compartments of autophagosomes. In addition, Dansylcadaverine has biological applications in measuring cardiac autophagic flux, studying Parkinson's disease, peritoneal ovarian tumor dissemination, and respiratory diseases. This fluorescent tag is preferred over other due to its specificity and simplicity in detecting autophagic vesicles, which requires a brief exposure to the compound compared to previous methods.
