Hybrid Small-Molecule/Protein Fluorescent Probes

Abstract

Hybrid small-molecule/protein fluorescent probes are powerful tools for visualizing protein localization and function in living cells. These hybrid probes are constructed by diverse sitespecific chemical protein labeling approaches through chemical reactions to exogenous peptide/ small protein tags, enzymatic post-translational modifications, bioorthogonal reactions for genetically incorporated unnatural amino acids, and ligand-directed chemical reactions. The hybrid smallmolecule/protein fluorescent probes are employed for imaging protein trafficking, conformational changes, and bioanalytes surrounding proteins. In addition, fluorescent hybrid probes facilitate visualization of protein dynamics at the single-molecule level and the defined structure with superresolution imaging. In this review, we discuss development and the bioimaging applications of fluorescent probes based on small-molecule/protein hybrids.