Research progress of multi-functional fluorescent probes for Alzheimer's disease monitoring

The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has proven to be difficult to achieve in clinical practice, despite the extensive research on the subject. In addition to traditional biomarkers such as beta-amyloid and neurofibrillary tangles, which have been considered important targets for the diagnosis of AD for long time, other biomarkers of the disease in its early stages are under investigation. Fluorescent imaging is considered a promising strategy for the early diagnosis of AD due to its high sensitivity, simplicity of testing, minimal-invasiveness, real-time response, availability of probes with low toxicity requiring low dosage, and low cost. A small, but rapidly increasing number of fluorescent probes have recently been reported in the literature for the simultaneous detection of multiple biomarkers. This review describes 16 different dual-functional fluorescent probes developed in recent years for the simultaneous detection of AD biomarkers, including beta-amyloid and viscosity, beta-amyloid and tau fibrils, beta-amyloid and lipid droplets, beta-amyloid and peroxynitrite, mitochondrial viscosity and hydrogen peroxide, mitochondrial membrane potential and viscosity, mitochondrial viscosity and hydrogen sulfide, copper and hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen peroxide and pH fluctuations.

Automated summary

Fluorescent imaging is considered a promising strategy for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, with a rapidly increasing number of fluorescent probes available for the simultaneous detection of multiple biomarkers.