Fluorescent probes - illuminate the interplay network between lipid droplets and other organelles

Lipid droplets, as the centre of lipid metabolism, interact with the endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, lysosome, nucleus and other organelles to maintain the body's energy balance through vesicle transport or membrane contact. Disruption of the interaction process will lead to the development of lipid metabolism-related diseases. In recent years, many fluorescent probes have been developed to visually follow the dynamic interaction process visually between lipid droplets and other organelles. Existing reviews on lipid droplets fluorescent probes are mainly categorised and reviewed in terms of the emission band of probes, mother fluorophores and design strategies. However, probes that focus on the interactions between lipid droplets and other organelles can provide further insight into the whole process from lipid droplets formation to transformation as well as the mechanisms of diseases related to lipid metabolism. This paper mainly reviews the progress of fluorescent probes targeting lipid droplets interactions with other organelles in the last five years and is divided into dual-targeted and multi-targeted sections based on the number of targeted organelles. The focus is on the biological contacts and dynamic interaction processes between lipid droplet-centred organelles observed by fluorescence imaging with dual-targeted and multi-targeted probes in the article. The targeting groups and reaction sites of the probes are marked in the figure. Moreover, the paper briefly describes the structure and biological functions of lipid droplets and their connections with other organelles. Perhaps in addition to the imaging performance of the probes, we believe that the use of precision instruments to provide high spatio-temporal resolution and reliable results is also a key factor in observational studies. Finally, we summarize the development prospect of multi-color multi-targeted fluorescent probes related to lipid droplets. We expect to bring novel thinking to the design of lipid droplet fluorescent probes and provide new ideas for exploring diagnostic and therapeutic options for lipid droplet-related diseases.