Enzymes, as biocatalysts, speed up chemical reactions to reach equilibrium in living organisms. The abnormal enzyme activity is closely related to many diseases, and they are regarded as biomarkers in clinical medicine. Thus, determination of enzyme activity has considerable importance. Among the developed methods, quantum/carbon dots (QDs/CDs)-based fluorescent sensors provide alternative platforms to monitor enzyme activity. Both quantum dots (QDs) and carbon dots (CDs) as excellent fluorescent materials possess outstanding photostability, tunable emission spectra and better biocompatibility. Thus, they present incomparable advantages in sensing. This review summarizes the advances in fluorescent assays design, sensing mechanism and corresponding applications of QDs/CDs-based fluorescent sensors for enzyme activity detection. Finally, challenges and development trends of QDs/CDs as enzymatic sensors are also discussed. We believe that this review will provide an insight for the development of novel fluorescent sensors for detection of enzyme activity.

酶作为生物催化剂，可以加速化学反应，使其在生物体内达到平衡。异常的酶活性与许多疾病密切相关，在临床医学中被视为生物标志物。因此，确定酶活性具有相当重要的意义。在已开发的方法中，基于量子/碳点（QDs / CD）的荧光传感器提供了监测酶活性的替代平台。量子点（QDs）和碳点（CDs）作为出色的荧光材料，都具有出色的光稳定性，可调的发射光谱和更好的生物相容性。因此，它们在传感方面具有无可比拟的优势。这篇综述总结了用于酶活性检测的基于QDs / CDs的荧光传感器的荧光测定设计，传感机制和相应应用的进展。最后，还讨论了作为酶传感器的QD / CD的挑战和发展趋势。我们相信，这篇综述将为开发用于检测酶活性的新型荧光传感器提供一个见识。