Institution: | 1. CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023 P. R. China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 P. R. China;2. CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023 P. R. China |
Abstract: | Protein phase separation process involving protein unfolding, misfolding, condensation and aggregation etc. has been associated with numerous human degenerative diseases. The complexity in protein conformational transitions results in multi-step and multi-species biochemical pathways upon protein phase separation. Recent progresses in designing novel fluorescent probes have unraveled the enriched details of phase separated proteins and provided mechanistic insights towards disease pathology. In this review, we summarized the design and characterizations of fluorescent probes that selectively illuminated proteins at different phase separated states with a focus on aggregation-induced emission probes, fluorescent molecular rotors, and solvatochromic fluorophores. Inspired by these pioneering works, a design blueprint was proposed to further develop fluorescent probes that can potentially shed light on the unresolved protein phase separated states in the future. |