Zinc sensors

Chang CJ, Javorski J, Nolan EM, Shaeng M, Lippard SJ (2004) A tautomeric zinc sensor for ratiometric fluorescence imaging application to nitric oxide-release of intracellular zinc. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101 1129-1134... 

Andrasi E, Nadasdi J, MolnarZ, BezurL, Ernyei L (1990) Determination of main and trace element contents in human brain by NAA and ICP-AES methods. Biol Trace Elem Res 26-27 691-698 Andrasi E, Suhajda M, Saray 1, Bezur L, Ernyei L, Reffy A (1993) Concentration of elements in human brain glioblastoma multiforme. Sci Total Environ 139-140 399-402 Andrews GK (2001) Cellular zinc sensors MTF-1 regulation of gene expression. Biometals 14 223-237... 

Eicken C, Pennella MA, Chen X, Koshlap KM, Van Zile ML, Sacchettini JC, Giedroc DP. A metal-ligand-mediated intersubunit allosteric switch in related SmtB/ArsR zinc sensor proteins. J. Mol. Biol. 2003 333 683-695. 

Andrews GK. Cellular zinc sensors MTF-1 regulation of gene expression. BioMetals 2001 14 223-237. 

Fluorescent sensors have been widely investigated for the detection of many types of compounds and a particularly fruitful field is the selective detection of metal ions for example, a series (Zinpyr) of zinc sensors, based on fluorescein-containing attached chelating ligands, which can be used for quantitative determination of Zn or imaging of zinc-containing biological structures. ... 

In addition to the G-quadruplex other motifs that have been solved include the i-motif, a pH-dependent poly dA helix which forms the basis of a molecular switch, the HIV-1 TAR DNA hairpin, and the B-Z transition in a GC-rich DNA sequence. There are also many protein/ peptide structures that have been solved that have DNA as part of the recognition domain, including a zinc sensor, MetJ repressor, lac repressor, Lambda integrase protein, protection of telomers (Potl)... 

Pearce, D.A., Jotterand, N., Carrico, I.S., and Imperiali, B. (2001) Derivatives of 8-hydroxy-2-methylquinoline are powerful prototypes for zinc sensors in biological systems. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 123, 5160-5161. 

Hadjipavlou-Litina, D., Christos, K., Eleni, R, Marianna, D., Antonia, A., Haralambos, E. K. 2007. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of coumarins designed as potential fluorescent zinc sensors. J. Enzy. Inhib. Med Chem. 22 287-292. 

Manganese. Tricarbonyl cymantrene-peptide conjugated manganese complexes were synthesised by Neundorf et al., showing cytotoxicity towards cancer cells. " Attachment of carboxyfluorescein enabled in vitro fluorescence uptake to be observed, which indicated localisation in the lysosome. Furthermore, Lippard et al. synthesised dipicolylamine 5-phenyl-10,15,20-tris(4-sulfonatophenyl) porphyrins with an outlook towards dual fluorescence/MRI detection of zinc. The free ligand acts as a powerful fluorescence turn on zinc sensor, whereas in the presence of zinc. 

Clearly, meeting all of these requirements presents quite a challenge Nevertheless, there have been some impressive advances in this area. A number of zinc sensors have been developed, including... 

---