Fluorescent Probes for Reactive Oxygen Species Detection in Biological Systems
Summary
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are essential signalling molecules in physiology but also mediators of oxidative damage in a broad spectrum of diseases. Fluorescent probes offer a non-invasive means to track ROS dynamics with high spatial and temporal resolution in living cells, tissues and whole organisms. Typical probe architectures combine a fluorophore, a sensing motif that reacts selectively with a target ROS and a linker that modulates signal output. Design strategies harness mechanisms such as photo-induced electron transfer, intramolecular charge transfer and fluorescence resonance energy transfer to deliver turn-on or ratiometric responses. Advances in probe chemistry have yielded small-molecule sensors, nanomaterial assemblies and organelle-directed constructs capable of detecting superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical and other species in vitro and in vivo. These tools have illuminated ROS roles in inflammation, neurodegeneration, cancer, cardiovascular dysfunction and microbial pathogenesis, and are guiding early-diagnostic approaches and real-time therapeutic monitoring.
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Fluorescent Probes for Reactive Oxygen Species Detection in Biological Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in fluorescent probes for reactive oxygen species detection in biological systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Reactive oxygen species (ROS): Chemically reactive molecules derived from oxygen, including superoxide, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radical.
Fluorophore: A molecular scaffold that absorbs light at one wavelength and emits at another, forming the basis of fluorescence detection.
Photo-induced electron transfer (PET): A mechanism in which an electron moves between the sensing motif and fluorophore upon reaction, modulating emission.
Intramolecular charge transfer (ICT): Redistribution of electron density within a probe molecule that alters its fluorescence properties in response to analyte interaction.
Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET): Non-radiative energy transfer between two chromophores that enables ratiometric sensing when their distance changes.
Ratiometric probe: A sensor that provides a built-in reference by producing two emissions, allowing quantitative analysis independent of probe concentration.
References
- Recent progress in the development of fluorescent probes for imaging pathological oxidative stress. Chemical Society Reviews (2023).
- Recent Advances in Detection of Hydroxyl Radical by Responsive Fluorescence Nanoprobes. Chemistry - An Asian Journal (2024).
- Mitochondria‐Targeting BODIPY Probes for Imaging of Reactive Oxygen Species. Advanced Sensor Research (2023).
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