Organic Mitoprobes based on Fluorogens with Aggregation-Induced Emission

Fluorescence imaging of mitochondria is of great interest to understand its functions and roles in various critical bioprocesses. Conventional fluorescence reagents for mitochondrial imaging and tracking suffer from various problems such as poor photostability and high cytotoxicity. The emerging of fluorogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property provides great opportunities to develop mitoprobes with high specificity, good photostability and multiple functions for mitochondrial imaging and tracking. This review summarizes the recent advance of AIE mitoprobes, including the design principle for AIE mitoprobes, the applications of AIE mitoprobes for super-resolution mitochondrial imaging and tracking, as well as the therapeutic functions of AIE mitoprobes for cancer cell ablation.