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Activity‐Based Genetically Encoded Fluorescent and Luminescent Probes for Detecting Formaldehyde in Living Cells
Author(s) -
Zhang Yuqing,
Du Yimeng,
Li Manjia,
Zhang Dong,
Xiang Zheng,
Peng Tao
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.202001425
Subject(s) - fluorescence , luciferase , green fluorescent protein , luminescence , chemistry , biochemistry , lysine , biophysics , biology , transfection , gene , amino acid , materials science , physics , optoelectronics , quantum mechanics
Formaldehyde (FA) is endogenously produced in living systems through a variety of biological processes and has been implicated in many pathological conditions. Detection tools for biological FA are therefore of great interest. Reported here are novel activity‐based genetically encoded fluorescent and luminescent probes for detecting FA in aqueous solutions and living mammalian cells. A FA‐reactive lysine analogue, PrAK, was site‐specifically incorporated into the essential lysine sites of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and firefly luciferase (fLuc) to afford fluorescent and luminescent FA probes, respectively. FA selectively reacts with PrAK residues on EGFP and fLuc through a 2‐aza‐Cope rearrangement, resulting in fluorescence and luminescence turn‐on responses, respectively, to FA selectively over potentially interfering reactive species in aqueous buffer. Moreover, the genetically encoded probes are capable of visualizing FA at physiologically relevant levels in living mammalian cells by fluorescence and luminescence imaging, demonstrating their potential as new tools to explore FA biology.