School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Daxue Road 3501, Changqing District, Jinan 250353, P. R. China.
Chem Soc Rev. 2021 Jan 7;50(1):102-119. doi: 10.1039/d0cs00896f. Epub 2020 Nov 6.
As a ubiquitous degradation process in cells, autophagy plays important roles in various biological activities. However, the abnormality of autophagy is closely related to many diseases, such as aging, neurological disorder, and cancer. Thus, monitoring the process of autophagy in living cells has high significance in biological studies and diagnosis of related diseases. In order to real-time and in situ monitor the process of autophagy, various organic fluorescent probes have been explored in recent years owing to the advantages such as handy staining processes, flexible molecular design strategies, and near-nondestructive detection. However, this interesting and frontier topic has not been reviewed so far. In this tutorial review, we will focus on the latest breakthrough results of organic fluorescent probes in monitoring autophagy of living cells, especially the probe design strategies based on the several microenvironment changes of the autophagy process, and the responding mechanisms and bio-imaging applications in the autophagy process. In addition, we will discuss the shortcomings and limitations of the probes developed, such as susceptible to interference, unable to monitor the whole process, and lack of clinical applications. Finally, we will highlight some challenges and further opportunities in this field. This tutorial review may promote the development of more robust fluorescent probes to further reveal the mechanisms of autophagy, which is the basis of degradation and recycling of cell components.
自噬作为细胞内普遍存在的降解过程，在各种生物活动中发挥着重要作用。然而，自噬的异常与许多疾病密切相关，如衰老、神经紊乱和癌症。因此，在生物研究和相关疾病的诊断中，实时原位监测自噬过程具有重要意义。为了实时原位监测自噬过程，近年来人们探索了各种有机荧光探针，因为其具有染色过程简便、分子设计策略灵活以及检测过程几乎无损等优点。然而，这个有趣的前沿课题迄今尚未得到综述。在本综述中，我们将重点介绍有机荧光探针在监测活细胞自噬过程中的最新突破成果，特别是基于自噬过程中几个微环境变化的探针设计策略，以及在自噬过程中的响应机制和生物成像应用。此外，我们还将讨论已开发探针的缺点和局限性，例如易受干扰、无法监测整个过程以及缺乏临床应用等。最后，我们将突出该领域的一些挑战和进一步的机遇。本综述可能会促进更稳健的荧光探针的发展，从而进一步揭示自噬的机制，这是细胞成分降解和回收的基础。
