Joshi Soniya, Moody Alexis, Budthapa Padamlal, Gurung Anita, Gautam Rachana, Sanjel Prabha, Gupta Aakash, Aryal Surya P, Parajuli Niranjan, Bhattarai Narayan
Central Department of Chemistry, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu 44618, Nepal.
Department of Chemical, Biological, and Bioengineering, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA.
Bioengineering (Basel). 2024 Dec 19;11(12):1292. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering11121292.
Fluorescence is a remarkable property exhibited by many chemical compounds and biomolecules. Fluorescence has revolutionized analytical and biomedical sciences due to its wide-ranging applications in analytical and diagnostic tools of biological and environmental importance. Fluorescent molecules are frequently employed in drug delivery, optical sensing, cellular imaging, and biomarker discovery. Cancer is a global challenge and fluorescence agents can function as diagnostic as well as monitoring tools, both during early tumor progression and treatment monitoring. Many fluorescent compounds can be found in their natural form, but recent developments in synthetic chemistry and molecular biology have allowed us to synthesize and tune fluorescent molecules that would not otherwise exist in nature. Naturally derived fluorescent compounds are generally more biocompatible and environmentally friendly. They can also be modified in cost-effective and target-specific ways with the help of synthetic tools. Understanding their unique chemical structures and photophysical properties is key to harnessing their full potential in biomedical and analytical research. As drug discovery efforts require the rigorous characterization of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, fluorescence-based detection accelerates the understanding of drug interactions via in vitro and in vivo assays. Herein, we provide a review of natural products and synthetic analogs that exhibit fluorescence properties and can be used as probes, detailing their photophysical properties. We have also provided some insights into the relationships between chemical structures and fluorescent properties. Finally, we have discussed the applications of fluorescent compounds in biomedical science, mainly in the study of tumor and cancer cells and analytical research, highlighting their pivotal role in advancing drug delivery, biomarkers, cell imaging, biosensing technologies, and as targeting ligands in the diagnosis of tumors.
荧光是许多化合物和生物分子所具有的显著特性。由于荧光在具有生物学和环境重要性的分析及诊断工具中有着广泛应用，它给分析科学和生物医学带来了变革。荧光分子常用于药物递送、光学传感、细胞成像和生物标志物发现。癌症是一项全球性挑战，荧光剂在肿瘤早期进展和治疗监测过程中可同时作为诊断和监测工具。许多荧光化合物能以天然形式存在，但合成化学和分子生物学的最新进展使我们能够合成并调控自然界中原本不存在的荧光分子。天然来源的荧光化合物通常具有更高的生物相容性和环境友好性。借助合成工具，它们还能以经济高效且靶向特定的方式进行修饰。了解它们独特的化学结构和光物理性质是在生物医学和分析研究中充分发挥其潜力的关键。由于药物研发工作需要对药代动力学和药效学进行严格表征，基于荧光的检测通过体外和体内试验加速了对药物相互作用的理解。在此，我们综述了具有荧光特性并可用作探针的天然产物和合成类似物，详细阐述了它们的光物理性质。我们还对化学结构与荧光性质之间的关系提供了一些见解。最后，我们讨论了荧光化合物在生物医学科学中的应用，主要是在肿瘤和癌细胞研究以及分析研究方面，强调了它们在推进药物递送、生物标志物、细胞成像、生物传感技术以及作为肿瘤诊断中的靶向配体方面的关键作用。
