Selective mitochondrial staining with small fluorescent probes: importance, design, synthesis, challenges and trends for new markers

Abstract

The present manuscript describes the importance of small mitochondrion-specific fluorescent markers to study mitochondrial dynamics and related processes. The importance of mitochondria, their dynamic cellular processes, the use of fluorescent selective probes, limitations of selected commercially available fluorescent systems and recent developments on the synthesis and applications of small fluorescent probes and trends are discussed.