Li Xiang-Fei, Wu Fu-Gen
State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials and Devices, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, 2 Southeast University Road, Nanjing, 211189, China.
State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials and Devices, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, 2 Southeast University Road, Nanjing, 211189, China.
Biosens Bioelectron. 2025 Apr 15;274:117130. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2025.117130. Epub 2025 Jan 4.
The cellular microenvironment exerts a pivotal regulatory influence on cell survival, function, and behavior. Dynamic analysis and detection of the cellular microenvironment can promptly elucidate changes in cellular microenvironmental information, uncover the pathogenesis of diseases associated with aberrant microenvironments, and aid in predicting disease risk and monitoring disease progression. Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) fluorescent molecules possess unique AIE characteristics and offer significant advantages in imaging and sensing cellular microenvironments. In this review, we present a profile of the remarkable progress achieved in utilizing AIE fluorescent molecules for detecting cellular microenvironments in recent years. We particularly focus on AIE fluorescent probes applied in imaging key parameters of the cellular microenvironment, including pH, viscosity, polarity, and temperature, as well as in analyzing critical biological components of the microenvironment, such as gas signal molecules, metal ions, redox state, and proteins. We underscore the design principles, detection mechanisms, sensing performance, and biological applications of these fluorescent probes. Furthermore, we address the current challenges confronting this field and provide prospects for the future development of AIE probes used for microenvironment detection. We trust that this review will inspire researchers to develop more precise and sensitive AIE fluorescent probes for the detection of cellular microenvironments.
细胞微环境对细胞存活、功能和行为发挥着关键的调节作用。对细胞微环境进行动态分析和检测能够迅速阐明细胞微环境信息的变化，揭示与异常微环境相关疾病的发病机制，并有助于预测疾病风险和监测疾病进展。聚集诱导发光（AIE）荧光分子具有独特的AIE特性，在细胞微环境成像和传感方面具有显著优势。在本综述中，我们介绍了近年来利用AIE荧光分子检测细胞微环境所取得的显著进展。我们特别关注应用于细胞微环境关键参数成像的AIE荧光探针，这些参数包括pH值、粘度、极性和温度，以及用于分析微环境关键生物成分的探针，如气体信号分子、金属离子、氧化还原状态和蛋白质。我们强调了这些荧光探针的设计原理、检测机制、传感性能和生物学应用。此外，我们讨论了该领域目前面临的挑战，并为用于微环境检测的AIE探针的未来发展提供了展望。我们相信，本综述将激励研究人员开发更精确、灵敏的AIE荧光探针用于细胞微环境检测。
