Lin Pin-Han, Clotworthy Megan R, Dawson Joseph J M, Fleming Cassandra L
School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
Centre of Biomedical and Chemical Sciences, School of Science, Auckland University of Technology, Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
Org Biomol Chem. 2025 May 19. doi: 10.1039/d5ob00542f.
The utilisation of light as an external stimulus to control the structure and function of bio-relevant molecules in healthy and diseased cells and tissues serves as a valuable means to probe fundamental molecular events of complex cellular processes. Indeed, the photocaging approach has proved highly popular, whereby bioactive molecules are modified with photolabile protecting groups, rendering them temporarily inactive. Biological activity is only restored upon irradiation with a defined wavelength of light, resulting in the irreversible cleavage of the caging group. While seminal works are reliant on the use of phototoxic UV light for photoactivation, the rapid evolution of the field of photopharmacology has facilitated the development of more sophisticated caging groups with physiochemical and photophysical properties better suited for applications. Herein, we highlight the recent progress made on the development of BODIPY-, cyanine- and xanthene-derived caging groups, which utilise visible-to-near-infrared light for photoactivation. The strategies employed to red-shift absorption spectra, as well as improve photolysis efficiencies and aqueous solubility have been of particular interest, and are therefore discussed in detail in this review.
利用光作为外部刺激来控制健康和患病细胞及组织中与生物相关分子的结构和功能，是探究复杂细胞过程基本分子事件的一种有价值的手段。事实上，光笼蔽方法已被证明非常受欢迎，即生物活性分子用光不稳定保护基团进行修饰，使其暂时失活。只有在用特定波长的光照射时，生物活性才会恢复，导致笼蔽基团不可逆地裂解。虽然开创性的工作依赖于使用光毒性紫外线进行光激活，但光药理学领域的快速发展促进了更复杂的笼蔽基团的开发，其物理化学和光物理性质更适合应用。在此，我们重点介绍了基于BODIPY、花菁和呫吨的笼蔽基团开发方面的最新进展，这些基团利用可见光到近红外光进行光激活。用于红移吸收光谱以及提高光解效率和水溶性的策略尤其令人关注，因此在本综述中进行了详细讨论。
