Fluorescent lipid probes: Properties and application

This review is devoted to fluorescent lipid probes: the characteristics of their fluorophores; the main methods of their synthesis; and the potentiali ties, scope, and limitations of their use in studies of biological systems (cells, membranes and their models, enzymes of lipid metabolism, etc.). Par ticular attention is paid to the lipid specificity of the probes, i.e., the correspondence of their physicochemical characteristics and behavior in bi ological systems to those of natural lipids.