Design and Application of Fluorescent Probes to Detect Cellular Physical Microenvironments

The microenvironment is indispensable for functionality of various biomacromolecules, subcellular compartments, living cells, and organisms. In particular, physical properties within the biological microenvironment could exert profound effects on both the cellular physiology and pathology, with para...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemical reviews 2024-02, Vol.124 (4), p.1738-1861
Main Authors: Ma, Junbao, Sun, Rui, Xia, Kaifu, Xia, Qiuxuan, Liu, Yu, Zhang, Xin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal models
Animals
Biological activity
Biological properties
Cellular Microenvironment
Fluorescent Dyes - chemistry
Fluorescent indicators
Humans
Mechanical Phenomena
Microenvironments
Parameters
Physical properties
Polarity
Probes
Viscosity
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Summary:The microenvironment is indispensable for functionality of various biomacromolecules, subcellular compartments, living cells, and organisms. In particular, physical properties within the biological microenvironment could exert profound effects on both the cellular physiology and pathology, with parameters including the polarity, viscosity, pH, and other relevant factors. There is a significant demand to directly visualize and quantitatively measure the fluctuation in the cellular microenvironment with spatiotemporal resolution. To satisfy this need, analytical methods based on fluorescence probes offer great opportunities due to the facile, sensitive, and dynamic detection that these molecules could enable in varying biological settings from in vitro samples to live animal models. Herein, we focus on various types of small molecule fluorescent probes for the detection and measurement of physical parameters of the microenvironment, including pH, polarity, viscosity, mechanical force, temperature, and electron potential. For each parameter, we primarily describe the chemical mechanisms underlying how physical properties are correlated with changes of various fluorescent signals. This review provides both an overview and a perspective for the development of small molecule fluorescent probes to visualize the dynamic changes in the cellular environment, to expand the knowledge for biological process, and to enrich diagnostic tools for human diseases.
ISSN:0009-2665
1520-6890
DOI:10.1021/acs.chemrev.3c00573