Recent advances in glutathione fluorescent probe based small organic molecule and their bioimaging

Glutathione (GSH), as one of the most important biological mercaptans, is involved in a variety of biological processes and is considered an important biomarker in early diagnosis and treatment as well as disease stage monitoring. Rapid and accurate detection of GSH in complex biological systems is of great significance for the analysis of pathology. Fluorescence imaging technology is widely used because of its advantages of high sensitivity, high resolution and non-destructive. In this paper, the latest research progress of GSH-responsive organic small molecule fluorescence probes in recent five years is summed up, and their response mechanisms are classified and discussed. In addition, the probe design strategy, sensing mechanism and biological application are also discussed in this review. Finally, the challenges and future research directions of developing new GSH probes are prospected. Key words: Glutathione (GSH), Small fluorescence probes, Imaging.