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Development and Challenge of Fluorescent Probes for Bioimaging Applications: From Visualization to Diagnosis

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Abstract

Fluorescent probes have been used widely in bioimaging, including biological substance detection, cell imaging, in vivo biochemical reaction process tracking, and disease biomarker monitoring, and have gradually occupied an indispensable position. Compared with traditional biological imaging technologies, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the attractive advantages of fluorescent probes, such as real-time imaging, in-depth visualization, and less damage to biological samples, have made them increasingly popular. Among them, ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) fluorescent probes still occupy the mainstream in the field of fluorescent probes due to the advantages of available structure, simple synthesis, strong versatility, and wide application. In recent years, fluorescent probes have become an indispensable tool for bioimaging and have greatly promoted the development of diagnostics. In this review, we focus on the structure, design strategies, advantages, representative probes and latest discoveries in application fields of UV–visible fluorescent probes developed in the past 3–5 years based on several fluorophores. We look forward to future development trends of fluorescent probes from the perspective of bioimaging and diagnostics. This comprehensive review may facilitate the development of more powerful fluorescent sensors for broad and exciting applications in the future.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2

c Reproduced with permission [43]. Copyright 2018, Elsevier B.V. d Reproduced with permission [44]. Copyright 2020, Elsevier B.V. e Reproduced with permission [38]. Copyright 2019, Elsevier B.V. f Reproduced with permission [46]. Copyright 2019, The American Chemical Society. g Reproduced with permission [48]. Copyright 2021, The American Chemical Society

Fig. 3

b Reproduced with permission [54]. Copyright 2019, Elsevier B.V. c Reproduced with permission [57]. Copyright 2018, Elsevier B.V.

Fig. 4

c Reproduced with permission [60]. Copyright 2019, Elsevier B.V. d Reproduced with permission [61]. Copyright 2018, Elsevier B.V. e Reproduced with permission [62]. Copyright 2019, Elsevier B.V. f Reproduced with permission [63]. Copyright 2020, Elsevier B.V. g Reproduced with permission [64]. Copyright 2021, The American Chemical Society

Fig. 5

b Reproduced with permission [66]. Copyright 2020, Elsevier B.V. c Reproduced with permission [67]. Copyright 2018, Elsevier B.V. d Reproduced with permission [71]. Copyright 2018, Elsevier B.V

Fig. 6

c Reproduced with permission [78]. Copyright 2019, The American Chemical Society. d Reproduced with permission [79]. Copyright 2018, The American Chemical Society. e Reproduced with permission [80]. Copyright 2018, The American Chemical Society. f Reproduced with permission [81]. Copyright 2021, The American Chemical Society

Fig. 7

a Reproduced with permission [88]. Copyright 2017, The American Chemical Society. b Reproduced with permission [89]. Copyright 2021, The American Chemical Society.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 82173742), the Shaanxi Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (No. 2022JC-54), the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (No. 2020SF-240), and Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzhen (No. SZZYSM202106004).

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  1. Yanchen Li and Qinhua Chen contributed equally to this work and should be regarded as joint first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, Health Science Center, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710061, China

    Yanchen Li, Xiaoyan Pan, Wen Lu & Jie Zhang

  2. Department of Pharmacy, Shenzhen Baoan Authentic TCM Therapy Hospital, Shenzhen, 518101, China

    Qinhua Chen

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  1. Yanchen Li
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Li, Y., Chen, Q., Pan, X. et al. Development and Challenge of Fluorescent Probes for Bioimaging Applications: From Visualization to Diagnosis. Top Curr Chem (Z) 380, 22 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41061-022-00376-8

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