Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) Probes for Cell Imaging

Abstract

Materials with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics are becoming increasingly popular among scientists. With the continuous endeavor from scientists worldwide, lots of applications have been made with these AIE materials in varied fields. AIE materials with excellent photostability and good biocompatibility are excellent candidates for cell imaging. In this chapter, we focus on introducing the working mechanism of these AIE-active materials and illustration of their applications in cell imaging. As the AIE materials are such a hot research area, lots of new discoveries and applications are being reported every day, this chapter cannot be so comprehensive to include all the reports. Thus, we select some representative examples to introduce their applications in imaging of subcellular structures, long-term cell tracking, sensing of intracellular microenvironments, and monitoring of biological events.