Mitochondria-Targeted Fluorescent Probes and the Biomedical Applications: A Minireview

Abstract

Mitochondria are central regulators of cellular metabolism and cell death, and thus represent critical targets for understanding the mechanisms of major diseases, including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Real-time monitoring of mitochondrial microenvironmental changes, functional parameters, and bioactive molecules is crucial for elucidating pathological processes. The fluorescent probes have emerged as powerful tools for this purpose. In recent years, mitochondria-targeted fluorescent probes have advanced rapidly, enabling the visualization of representative mitochondrial parameters and molecular targets, including temperature, viscosity, reactive oxygen/nitrogen species, reactive sulfur species, and metabolic indicators. Rather than attempting to provide an exhaustive classification of all reported mitochondrial probes, this review focuses on representative examples that illustrate how probe design and mitochondrial imaging contribute to disease mechanism studies, drug screening and evaluation, disease diagnosis, lesion visualization, and cancer theranostics. We further discuss current challenges and future directions, including targeting specificity, quantitative reliability, multiparameter imaging, and clinical translation. This review is expected to inspire the development of mitochondrial probe-based strategies for disease diagnosis and treatment.