title: Bright building blocks for chemical biology.
abstract: Small-molecule fluorophores manifest the ability of chemistry to solve problems in biology. As we noted in a previous review (Lavis, L. D.; Raines, R. T. ACS Chem. Biol. 2008, 3, 142-155), the extant collection of fluorescent probes is built on a modest set of "core" scaffolds that evolved during a century of academic and industrial research. Here, we survey traditional and modern synthetic routes to small-molecule fluorophores and highlight recent biological insights attained with customized fluorescent probes. Our intent is to inspire the design and creation of new high-precision tools that empower chemical biologists.
authors.affiliation: Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute , Ashburn, Virginia 20147, United States.
authors.forename: Luke D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Lavis
authors.forename: Ronald T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Raines
mesh_terms: D001671:Biochemistry / Q000639:trends*; D001896:Boron Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D003374:Coumarins / Q000737:chemistry; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015394:Molecular Structure
chemical_list: C095489:4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene; D001896:Boron Compounds; D003374:Coumarins; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes