Fluorescent Probes for Glutathione Detection

Glutathione is a thiol-containing tripeptide which composed of glutamic acid, cysteine and glycine. Reduced glutathione possesses the function of anti-oxidation, toxinremoving and other crucial physiological functions. Abnormal level of it indicates the emergence of diseases such as hepatitis, pneumonia, AIDS or even cancer. Therefore real-time detection of it has the important significance of keeping normal physiological condition and monitoring certain diseases. The fluorescence technique has obvious advantages of swift response, high sensitivity and selectivity comparing with other detection methods. The detection of glutathione by fluorescent reagents has attracted much attention. In this review, we summarized fluorescent probes reported so far for glutathione according to the classification of organic and inorganic probes, including coumarin-based probes, BODIPY-based probes, quantum dots-based probes, carbon dots-based probes and so on, focusing on the detection process and mechanism. The review concluded with an outlook towards potential applications of all kinds of probes for glutathione detection.