Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Pittsburgh Hearing Research Center, Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh , 3501 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States.
J Am Chem Soc. 2018 Feb 14;140(6):2020-2023. doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b12766. Epub 2018 Jan 31.
Fluorescent sensors for mobile zinc are valuable for studying complex biological systems. Because these sensors typically bind zinc rapidly and tightly, there has been little temporal control over the activity of the probe after its application to a sample. The ability to control the activity of a zinc sensor in vivo during imaging experiments would greatly improve the time resolution of the measurement. Here, we describe photoactivatable zinc sensors that can be triggered with short pulses of UV light. These probes are prepared by functionalizing a zinc sensor with protecting groups that render the probe insensitive to metal ions. Photoinduced removal of the protecting groups restores the binding site, allowing for zinc-responsive changes in fluorescence that can be observed in live cells and tissues.
用于检测游离锌的荧光传感器对于研究复杂的生物系统非常有用。由于这些传感器通常能够快速且紧密地结合锌离子，因此在将探针应用于样品后，对探针的活性几乎无法进行时间控制。如果能够在活体成像实验中控制锌传感器的活性，将极大地提高测量的时间分辨率。在这里，我们描述了可通过短脉冲紫外光触发的光活化锌传感器。这些探针是通过用保护基团对锌传感器进行功能化来制备的，这些保护基团使探针对金属离子不敏感。光诱导去除保护基团恢复了结合位点，使得能够在活细胞和组织中观察到对锌响应的荧光变化。
