Progress in fluorescent probes for tumor hypoxia

Abstract

Hypoxia is an important feature of many diseases. Hypoxia detection is of great importance for tumor and related diseases diagnosis which could provide useful methods for exploring the mechanism of hypoxic tumor. Hypoxia-sensitive fluorescent probes can be used to monitor the hypoxic status of tumor cells via the detection of endogenous reductase, which have attracted much attention due to high sensitivity and high spatial and temporal resolution. In this review, the different mechanisms of tumor hypoxia detection based on fluorescent probe are reviewed systematically. The design concept, detection mechanism and biological applications of fluorescent probes are summarized. Moreover, the application prospect and development trend of fluorescent probe for hypoxia have been discussed.