Small molecule fluorescent probes of protein vicinal dithiols

The vicinal dithiol motif is widely present in proteins, and is critical for proteins' structures and functions. In recent years, a variety of fluorescent probes with high specificity and outstanding optical properties for sensing protein vicinal dithiols have been developed. In this review, we summarized the fluorescent probes of protein vicinal dithiols in literature. These probes are classified into four types based on their acceptor sites, i.e., biarsenical probes, monoarsenical probes, dimaleimide probes and diacrylate probes. Through analyzing the properties of different probes, we expect that this review would help readers further understand the structural factors of these probes and provide the design strategy for novel fluorescent probes with improved properties.