Visualizing intracellular dynamics with AIE probes

Abstract

As a sensitive, selective, and non-invasive method, fluorescence bioimaging stands out in biological and pathological studies to visualize biological processes on the microscale. However, the initial photophysical property of conventional organic fluorophores leads to poor photostability and a low signal-to-noise ratio, which largely hinder their performance in the long-term monitoring and tracing of intracellular processes. In contrast, AIE luminogens (AIEgens) exhibit opposite photophysical properties that overcome the barrier to facilitate real-time and long-term intracellular dynamics visualization. This work summarizes the recent development of AIE probes to unveil intracellular processes, covering from intracellular microenvironment monitoring to tracing intracellular bioprocesses. As fluorescent bioprobes with AIE features have unlimited potential in bioimaging studies, we hope this review can offer more inspiration and directions for the future design and development of AIEgens for visualizing and monitoring diversified intracellular dynamics.