Organic Mitoprobes based on Fluorogens with Aggregation‐Induced Emission

Abstract

Fluorescence imaging of mitochondria is of great interest to understand its functions and roles in various critical bioprocesses. Conventional fluorescence reagents for mitochondrial imaging and tracking suffer from various problems such as poor photostability and high cytotoxicity. The emerging of fluorogens with aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) property provides great opportunities to develop mitoprobes with high specificity, good photostability and multiple functions for mitochondrial imaging and tracking. This review summarizes the recent advance of AIE mitoprobes, including the design principle for AIE mitoprobes, the applications of AIE mitoprobes for super‐resolution mitochondrial imaging and tracking, as well as the therapeutic functions of AIE mitoprobes for cancer cell ablation.

Aggregation‐Induced Emission: Recent Advances in Materials and Biomedical Applications

“…Due to the short lifetime and diffusion radius of ROS, as compared to random distribution in the cell cytoplasm, it is important for the probes to target specific organelles where the ROS generation can directly destruct the cell functions and induce cell death. Previous work extensively studied the mitochondria targeting probes, which has realized efficient PDT ablation of cancer cells . However, as most of the mitochondria targeting probes are type‐I type, their specificity is affected by the complex transmembrane delivery and low‐specific physical attachment of the probes on mitochondria.…”

Recent advances in super-resolution optical imaging based on aggregation-induced emission

“…Since the inception of the AIE concept, an increasing number of novel AIE materials have been designed, exhibiting remarkable performance in various fields. 18,19 These applications include specific substance detection, [20][21][22][23][24] fluorescence sensing and imaging, [25][26][27][28][29] fingerprint imaging, 21,[30][31][32] super-resolution imaging, [33][34][35] organic photoelectric materials [36][37][38][39][40] and theranostics. [41][42][43][44][45][46][47] Based on the reversible fluorescence switching resulting from dynamic non-covalent molecular interactions, AIE offers a promising solution for a fluorescence switching mechanism available in super-resolution imaging.…”

“…Since the inception of the AIE concept, an increasing number of novel AIE materials have been designed, exhibiting remarkable performance in various fields. 18,19 These applications include specific substance detection, 20–24 fluorescence sensing and imaging, 25–29 fingerprint imaging, 21,30–32 super-resolution imaging, 33–35 organic photoelectric materials 36–40 and theranostics. 41–47…”

Tuning the organelle-imaging specificity of an aggregation-induced emission luminogen with reversible mechanochromism by ionization

“…On the other aspect, organic materials with mechanochromic properties are sensitive to the stimuli of mechanical force and solvent vapors. Therefore, they have potential applications in environmental monitors, chemical sensors, and optical data storage devices [21][22][23][24][25][26][27] . In general, ideal mechanochromic materials should show remarkable stimulus responsiveness and reversibility [28][29][30][31] .…”

“…Therefore, they have potential applications in environmental monitors, chemical sensors, and optical data storage devices. [21][22][23][24][25][26][27] In general, ideal mechanochromic materials should exhibit remarkable stimulus responsiveness and reversibility. [28][29][30][31] To date, numerous AIEgens with various core structures have been developed.…”