Recent advances in the fluorescent probes for flavinase activity: design and applications

Flavinases, including monoamine oxidase (MAO-A/MAO-B), quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), nitroreductase (NTR) and so on, are important redox enzymes in organisms. They are considered as biomarkers of cell energy metabolism and cell vitality. Importantly, their aberrant expression is related to various disease processes. Therefore, the accurate measurement of flavinase is useful for the early diagnosis of diseases, which has aroused great concern in the scientific community. Various methods are also available for the detection of flavinases, fluorescence probes are considered to be one of the best detection methods due to their easy and accurate sensing capability. This review aims to introduce the advances in the design and application of flavinase probes in the last five years. This study focuses on analyzing the design strategies and reaction mechanisms of flavinases fluorescent probes and discusses the current challenges, which will further advance the development of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for flavinase-related diseases.