Recent Advances of AIEgens for Targeted Imaging of Subcellular Organelles

Fluorescence imaging based on luminogens with aggregation-induced emission(AIE) effect has drawn great attention in recent two decades, due to their superior advantages to overcome the technical difficulties. Thus, the AIE-active bioprobes with targeted ability at the subcellular level have been widely investigated to visualize the subcellular structures and monitor the biological processes. Considering the very rapid developments and the significance of selective imaging of subcellular structures, we summarize the recent two-year achievements about the AIEgens for targeted imaging of subcellular organelles including nuclei, membranes, lipid droplets(LDs), endoplasmic reticulum(ER), lysosomes, mitochondria and cytoplasm. The designed protocols and advantages of AIEgens, their mechanisms for targeted staining at organelles and the imaging performance are discussed. These AIE bioprobes exhibit great potentials for early diagnosis and therapeutics of diseases that related to subcellular organelles. Finally, the perspectives about AIEgens for these applications are also discussed.