Work

Bright Zinc Probes with Thiomorpholine Monoxide Auxochromes for Imaging Insulin Secretion

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Zinc biology significantly impacts human physiological and pathological processes, especially for β-cell endocrinology. In 2021, our group reported the PKZnR family with minimal phototoxicity and μM affinities for monitoring Zn 2+ /insulin corelease during vesicular secretory events on β-cells (Zhang et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60 (49), 25846−25855). Here, we synthesized a series of Zn 2+ probes ( PKZnBR ) featuring thiomorpholine monoxide auxochromes with K d values ranging from 160 nM to 94 μM. By inhibiting the twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) state, the fluorescence quantum yields of PKZnBRs can be effectively increased to ∼7 times those of PKZnRs . A privileged candidate, PKZnBR-3, has a high turn-on ratio (∼134), appropriate affinity (340 nM), and excellent hydrophilicity, making it a powerful tool for long-term ex vivo recording of insulin secretion in mouse islets with minimal phototoxicity.

Source: Chemical & Biomedical Imaging

DOI: 10.1021/cbmi.4c00116

Authors: Rundong Yu, Junwei Zhang, Xiaohong Peng, Zhixing Chen

Institutions: Peking University, Center for Life Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Shenzhen University

Language: English

Topic: Molecular Sensors and Ion Detection

Subfield: Spectroscopy

Field: Chemistry

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation, National Key Research and Development Program of China