Self-Assembled Fluorescent Peptide Nanoprobes for Disease Diagnosis

Benefiting from the advantages of simple reactions, low energy consumption, and uniform properties, self-assembly has been widely utilized for preparation of nanoprobes. Peptides have been chosen as “bricks” for self-assembling nano-biomaterials due to their easy drug formation, highly variable sequence, good biocompatibility and biodegradability. Peptides can efficiently self-assemble through noncovalent interactions, such as hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interactions, π–π stacking, hydrophobic interactions, and van der Waals forces. Based on this, many ex situ and in situ self-assembly strategies are developed. The former self-assembles into stable nanomaterials beforehand, while the latter undergoes in situ self-assembly at the target site in response to its specific stimulus-responsive modules. As probe sizes are miniaturized to the nanometer scale, they gain high sensitivity, low detection limits, and the capability for in situ detection. Nanoprobes created through self-assembly, usually possess targeted accumulation in specific tissues, prolonged elimination half-life, and multimodal imaging capabilities, making them highly effective for disease diagnosis. This review introduces the types of self-assembled fluorescent peptide nanoprobes according to the source of fluorescence properties and summarizes the progress of their application in disease diagnosis, such as cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and bacterial infection. In addition, their limitations will be discussed, and new strategies will be proposed for the development of advanced peptide-based fluorescent self-assembling nanoprobes, aimed at improving their potential for clinical translation.