Fluorescent mitochondrial probes

Abstract

In the last decades, investigators have made striking progresses in the development of fluorescent probes that respond to alterations in microenvironments (e.g., pH, viscosity, and polarity) or quantities of biomolecules of interest (e.g., ions, reactive oxygen species, and enzymes). 1 All of these analytes are specialized to accomplish vital functions and are connected to critical diseases in different subcellular organelles: mitochondria, lysosome, nucleus, Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum. Each one of this organelles has its owns role to maintain the regular functions of cells and needs specific biological species and the suitable microenvironment to perform its cellular functions, at the same time as the breakdown of the homeostasis of biomolecules or microenvironmental mutations leads to organelle malfunctions, which in addition lead to disorders or illnesses. 1 Fluorescence imaging has appeared as an effective technique to record the amount, localization, and movement of biomolecules at the microscopic level. Furthermore, little molecule fluorescent probes have found a wide range of applications in various fields, including chemical biology, clinical diagnosis, and drug discovery.2 [...]