Microalgae‐Derived Health Supplements to Therapeutic Shifts: Redox‐Based Study Opportunities with AIE‐Based Technologies

Abstract

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly reactive molecules, serve the normal signaling in different cell types. Targeting ROS as the chemical signals, different stress based strategies have been developed to synthesis different anti‐inflammatory molecules in microalgae. These molecules could be utilized as health supplements in human. To provoke the ROS‐mediated defence systems, their connotation with the associated conditions must be well understood, therefore, proper tools for studying ROS in natural state are essential. The in vivo detection of ROS with phosphorescent probes offers promising opportunities to study these molecules in a non‐invasive manner. Most of the common problems in the traditional fluorescent probes are lower photostability, excitation intensity, slow responsiveness, and the microenvironment that challenge their performance. Some ROS‐specific aggregationinduced emission luminogens (AIEgens) with pronounced spatial and temporal resolution have recently demonstrated high selectivity, rapid responsiveness, and efficacies to resolve the aggregation‐caused quenching issues. The nanocomposites of some AIE‐photosensitizers can also improve the ROS‐mediated photodynamic therapy. These AIEgens could be used to induce bioactive components in microalgae through altering the ROS signaling, therefore are more auspicious for biomedical research. This study reviews the prospects of AIEgen‐based technologies to understand the ROS mediated bio‐physiological processes in microalgae for better healthcare benefits.

Reactive Species-Activatable AIEgens for Biomedical Applications

“…Thus, accurate detection and monitoring of these endogenously generated biomarkers is extensively important for precise disease diagnostics and therapeutics at an early stage [ 63 , 64 , 65 ]. According to their nature, reactive species can be divided into reactive oxygen species (ROS) including hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), hypochlorite/hypochlorous acid (HOCl/ClO − ), hydroxyl radical ( • OH), superoxide anion radical (O 2 •− ), singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ), and peroxy radical (ROO • ); reactive nitrogen species (RNS) including nitric oxide (NO), peroxynitrite (ONOO − ), S -nitrosothiol (RSNO), and S -nitrosoglutathione (GSNO); reactive sulfur species (RSS) including hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), thiyl radical (RS), thiol (RSH), S -nitrosothiol, sulfenic acid, and sulfite; reactive carbonyl species (RCS) including carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde (FA), glyoxal (GO), acrolein, and glucosone [ 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 ]. Reactive species have gained great interest from both fundamental biological scientists and clinical doctors, and more and more new phenomena about their functions have been discovered [ 76 , 77 , 78 ].…”