Recent Development of a Fluorescent Probe for In Vivo Detection of Hydrogen Peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), an important and distinct member of the ROS (reactive oxygen species) family, is produced by the incomplete reduction of oxygen and also oxidative decomposition process during metabolism. In vivo endogenous hydrogen peroxide is associated with many of the diseases including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative disorders. Thus, it is of great significance to track this small molecule, H2O2, simply and accurately in in vivo biological systems. Recently, various researches have been reported to develop the investigation to detect H2O2 in biological systems. Among them, only in vivo tracking applications of this molecule are now considered as a potential tool to analyse several diseases. But due to the interference of intrinsic background and dynamic complexity, the in vivo tracking of H2O2 is a challenging task for the scientists. We have incorporated here in this review some of the interesting research works having rational design strategies which deal with in vivo detection of H2O2 reported recently. For the first time, Fenton reaction has been utilized to demonstrate as a powerful tool for in vitro detection of H2O2 reported by Z. Qing, R. Yang's groups. Interesting nanoprobe was designed for specific recognition of H2O2 using two-photon microscopy techniques based on target-activated trigger and dual-emission fluorescence modulator developed by S. Yang, R. Yang's groups. Also, fluorescent probes were developed based on the Intramolecular Charge Transfer (ICT) process by Z. Lu, Z. Wang's groups. In addition, near infrared (NIR) fluorescence probes were synthesised based on Cyanine and Aza-BODIPY derivatives by the various groups of researchers for the detection of H2O2 and successfully applied to in vivo imaging of endogenous H2O2. Although, till date, many probes were designed so far for the detection of H2O2, real-time probes for rapid response are still expected for in vivo researches.