Recent development of zinc-fluorophores

Zinc-fluorophores have recently been attracting much interest in biological and environmental applications. How to detect selectively trace Zn2+ with efficient signal transduction is the central problem. Following carbonic anhydrase-based biosensors with fluorescent aromatic sulfonamides, a chemosensor, Zinquin, is now extensively used to study the role of intracellular Zn2+ in cellular biology. New types of zinc-fluorophores, zinc-finger peptides attached with fluorescent dyes and a dansylamide-pendant macrocyclic polyamine, have been developed in 1996. The principles, properties and limitations of these are discussed.