Department of Chemistry, Oregon State University 153 Gilbert Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA.
Chem Asian J. 2020 May 15;15(10):1514-1523. doi: 10.1002/asia.202000175. Epub 2020 Apr 8.
Long emission wavelengths, high fluorescence quantum yields (FQYs), and large Stokes shifts are highly desirable features for fluorescent probes in biological imaging. However, the current development of many fluorescent probes remains largely trial-and-error and lacks efficiency. Moreover, to achieve far-red/near-infrared emission, a significant extension in the -conjugation is usually adopted but accompanied by other drawbacks such as fluorescence loss. In this review, we discuss an effective red-shifting strategy built upon the green fluorescent protein chromophore, which enables a synergistic tuning of both the electronic ground and excited states. This approach could shorten the path toward redder emission in comparison to the conventional intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) strategy. We envision that this spectroscopy and computation-aided strategy may advance the noncanonical fluorescent protein design and be generalized to various fluorophore scaffolds for redder emission while preserving other superior properties such as high FQYs.
长发射波长、高荧光量子产率（FQY）和大斯托克斯位移是生物成像中荧光探针的理想特征。然而，目前许多荧光探针的开发仍然在很大程度上依赖于反复试验，缺乏效率。此外，为了实现远红/近红外发射，通常采用 -共轭的显著扩展，但伴随着其他缺点，如荧光损失。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了一种基于绿色荧光蛋白发色团的有效红移策略，该策略能够协同调整电子基态和激发态。与传统的分子内电荷转移（ICT）策略相比，这种方法可以缩短发射波长变红的路径。我们设想，这种基于光谱学和计算的策略可能会推进非典型荧光蛋白的设计，并推广到各种荧光团支架中，以实现更红的发射，同时保持其他优异的性质，如高荧光量子产率。
