Stimuli-instructed sequential morphological transformations for molecular imaging

Abstract

Stimuli-instructed sequential morphological transformations hold great promise for molecular imaging. During these processes, probes exhibit a spatially–temporally responsive cascade self-assembly/disassembly or tandem self-assembly transition toward dual stimuli along with sequential imaging signal switching, thus providing multiple types of information for precise and sensitive imaging or efficient theranostics of diseases. In this critical review, we provide an overview of dual stimuli-instructed cascade self-assembly and disassembly or tandem self-assembly of probes for molecular imaging and focus on the design strategies and potential applications of these probes. Finally, we discuss the current challenges and highlight perspective ideas in this field. We anticipate that this review will provide useful information on stimuli-instructed sequential morphological transformations and expand their applications to other fields.