摘要
Fluorescent technique is an emerging tool for bioimaging and sensing, allowing the direct visualization of different biological substances and processes at relatively small scale. Since 2001, fluorescent materials with the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) features have attracted much attention as a novel class of fluorescent probe for biomedical application. In the past decade, numerous AIE bio-probes have been developed, exhibiting the advantages of enhanced fluorescence, low background noise, wash-free detection, long-term monitoring, and photobleaching tolerance. The development of AIE bio-probes not only enriched the toolbox of fluorescence technology but also overcame some challenges arisen during the use of traditional fluorescent materials. In this chapter, recent advances of AIE bio-probes in cellular visualization and biomolecule sensing were summarized. First, four typical AIE-based strategies for biological detection were discussed. Then several examples of AIE bio-probes for cell imaging were introduced, including cytoplasm membrane, mitochondrion, lysosome, lipid droplet, and nucleus imaging. Afterward, the detection of ion, lipid, carbohydrate, amino acid, protein, enzyme, nucleic acid, and pathogens with AIE probes was presented. Finally, some perspectives were proposed, expecting to promote further development of AIE materials in cell imaging and biosensing.