Recent Advance in Nucleus-Targeted Fluorescent Probes for Bioimaging, Detection and Therapy

The nucleus is not only the control hub of cell life activities, but also the center of storing and controlling genetic information. The morphology of the nucleus can be used to judge the cell vitality and health. The various biological molecules contained in the nucleus are closely related to the normal life activities, occurrence and development of diseases. In recent years, fluorescence imaging has gained increasing attention due to its advantages of being intuitive, in situ and visual. The development of fluorescent probes for high-resolution imaging of the nucleus and detection of biomolecules in the nucleus is of great value for understanding the normal physiological processes of cells or organisms, as well as for disease diagnosis and treatment. In this review, we mainly introduce the current general strategies for designing nucleus-targeted fluorescent probes, as well as their applications in nucleus-targeted imaging, intranuclear biomolecular detection and therapy. Moreover, we also discuss the current challenges and opportunities of nucleus-targeted fluorescent probes in terms of selectivity, design strategies and so on.