He Dinggeng, Wong Ka-Wang, Dong Zhenzhen, Li Hung-Wing
Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China.
J Mater Chem B. 2018 Dec 21;6(47):7773-7793. doi: 10.1039/c8tb02285b. Epub 2018 Nov 9.
RNAs play important roles in various biological processes. Imaging of intracellular microRNAs (miRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) not only helps us to better understand the formation and transcription of mRNAs, but also provides vital information for disease diagnosis and treatment. Recently, many efforts have been focused on the development of high-performance RNA imaging probes that directly monitor endogenous miRNAs and mRNAs inside living cells without special treatment. Such real-time and in situ monitoring of the intracellular RNA expression level offers dynamic distribution information of target RNA in living cells that promotes target mRNA/miRNA functional research. With the breakthrough in smart cell delivery techniques, efficient live cell RNA imaging probes greatly expand our knowledge of life processes and improve cancer detection accuracy. In this review, we summarize different classes of state-of-the-art live cell miRNA/mRNA optical imaging probes based on smart and versatile nanomaterials that have been reported in recent years. By featuring the designs and performance for the probes of interest, we compare advanced RNA imaging probes, provide guidance for better utilization of the existing imaging probes and suggest the design of future advanced live cell RNA imaging probes.
RNA在各种生物过程中发挥着重要作用。细胞内微小RNA（miRNA）和信使RNA（mRNA）的成像不仅有助于我们更好地理解mRNA的形成和转录，还为疾病的诊断和治疗提供重要信息。最近，许多努力都集中在开发高性能RNA成像探针上，这些探针无需特殊处理就能直接监测活细胞内的内源性miRNA和mRNA。这种对细胞内RNA表达水平的实时原位监测提供了目标RNA在活细胞中的动态分布信息，促进了目标mRNA/miRNA的功能研究。随着智能细胞递送技术的突破，高效的活细胞RNA成像探针极大地扩展了我们对生命过程的认识，并提高了癌症检测的准确性。在这篇综述中，我们总结了近年来报道的基于智能和多功能纳米材料的不同类型的先进活细胞miRNA/mRNA光学成像探针。通过介绍感兴趣的探针的设计和性能，我们比较了先进的RNA成像探针，为更好地利用现有的成像探针提供指导，并提出未来先进活细胞RNA成像探针的设计建议。
