Peng Gao

), ATP, HCHO, CO and so on, are a highly important category of molecules in living cells. The dynamic fluctuations of these molecules in subcellular microenvironments determine cellular homeostasis, signal conduction, immunity and metabolism. However, their abnormal expressions can cause disorders which are associated with diverse major diseases. Monitoring bioactive molecules in subcellular structures is therefore critical for bioanalysis and related drug discovery. With the emergence of organelle-targeted fluorescent probes, significant progress has been made in subcellular imaging. Among the developed subcellular localization fluorescent tools, ROS, RNS and RSS (RONSS) probes are highly attractive, owing to their potential for revealing the physiological and pathological functions of these highly reactive, interactive and interconvertible molecules during diverse biological events, which are rather significant for advancing our understanding of different life phenomena and exploring new technologies for life regulation. This review mainly illustrates the design principles, detection mechanisms, current challenges, and potential future directions of organelle-targeted fluorescent probes toward RONSS.

The ultimate goal of cancer therapy is to eliminate malignant tumors while causing no damage to normal tissues. In the past decades, numerous nanoagents have been employed for cancer treatment because of their unique properties over traditional molecular drugs. However, lack of selectivity and unwanted therapeutic outcomes have severely limited the therapeutic index of traditional nanodrugs. Recently, a series of nanomaterials that can accumulate in specific organelles (nucleus, mitochondrion, endoplasmic reticulum, lysosome, Golgi apparatus) within cancer cells have received increasing interest. These rationally designed nanoagents can either directly destroy the subcellular structures or effectively deliver drugs into the proper targets, which can further activate certain cell death pathways, enabling them to boost the therapeutic efficiency, lower drug dosage, reduce side effects, avoid multidrug resistance, and prevent recurrence. In this Review, the design principles, targeting strategies, therapeutic mechanisms, current challenges, and potential future directions of organelle-targeted nanomaterials will be introduced.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) hold great promise for biomedical applications owing to their unique properties. The porous structures make MOFs excellent candidates for the delivery of different drugs; the flexibility in choosing metal ions and organic ligands makes it feasible to prepare MOFs with intrinsic antitumor activities and further devise MOF-drug synergistic systems; many other types of antitumor agents could also be developed using MOFs as the precursors/templates. Thus, the past two decades have witnessed the great development of MOF-based drugs, especially in the antitumor field. This Minireview mainly focuses on the design and applications of MOF-based antitumor agents. Four aspects covering the whole field are introduced: MOFs as carriers, MOFs as antitumor agents, MOF-drug synergistic systems, and MOF-derived antitumor agents. The challenges and opportunities of MOFs for clinical antitumor applications are also discussed.

experiments revealed that the nanoplatform has a high specificity and inhibition effect toward cancer cells and solid tumors. Interestingly, prognostic evaluation was also realized with COF-survivin. This work will offer new insights into COF-based probes and inspire the development of more versatile tools for biomedical applications.