Departments of Cell Biology and of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA.
Photochem Photobiol Sci. 2012 Mar;11(3):460-71. doi: 10.1039/c2pp05342j. Epub 2012 Jan 17.
Photoactivatable fluorophores (PAFs) are powerful imaging probes for tracking molecular and cellular dynamics with high spatiotemporal resolution in biological systems. Recent developments in biological microscopy have raised new demands for engineering new PAFs with improved properties, such as high two photon excitation efficiency, reversibility, cellular delivery and targeting. Here we review the history and some of the recent developments in this area, emphasizing our efforts in developing a new class of caged coumarins and related imaging methods for studying dynamic cell-cell communication through gap junction channels, and in extending the application of these caged coumarins to new areas including spatiotemporal control of microRNA activity in vivo.
光活化荧光团（PAFs）是一种强大的成像探针，可用于在生物系统中以高时空分辨率跟踪分子和细胞动态。近年来，生物学显微镜技术的发展对工程新型 PAFs 提出了新的要求，例如提高双光子激发效率、可逆性、细胞传递和靶向性等性能。本文回顾了该领域的历史和一些最新进展，重点介绍了我们在开发新型笼状香豆素和相关成像方法方面的工作，这些方法用于研究通过间隙连接通道的动态细胞间通讯，以及将这些笼状香豆素的应用扩展到新的领域，包括体内 microRNA 活性的时空控制。
