Development of a fluorescent chalcone library and its application in the discovery of a mouse embryonic stem cell probe.

We report the first fluorescent diamino-chalcone library and its application in the discovery of a mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) probe. CDg4, a novel green fluorescent mESC probe was discovered through a high-content image based screening of 160 members of the chalcone library. Interestingly, the molecular binding target of CDg4 was identified as the glycogen of the stem cell colony surface, rather than a conventional protein target from an intracellular source.