Release and Report: A New Photolabile Caging System with a Two-Photon Fluorescence Reporting Function

摘要

Photoinduced release of caged biological effectors has become a powerful research tool in molecular life sciences. For the past four decades, since it was first introduced by Barltrop, the o-nitrobenzyl group in various modifications has been used for such caging, and the arsenal of photoremovable groups is rapidly growing. It was later realized that it is important not only to release a biological effector but also to quantify its release and spatial distribution in real time by fluorescence microscopy. One existing solution involves tethering a fluorophore to a quencher via a photolabile linker, so that in the armed state most of the fluorescence is quenched. Another approach is to cage a peripheral hydroxy group of a generic fluorophore. The caveat is that the fluorophore's UV absorption remains higher than that of the caging group, interfering with the photorelease.