Molecular Rotors: Fluorescent Sensors for Microviscosity and Conformation of Biomolecules

Overview

Journal Angew Chem Int Ed Engl

Specialty Chemistry

Date 2023 Oct 19

PMID 37856157

Authors

Miguel Paez-Perez

Marina K Kuimova

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The viscosity and crowding of biological environment are considered vital for the correct cellular function, and alterations in these parameters are known to underly a number of pathologies including diabetes, malaria, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, to name a few. Over the last decades, fluorescent molecular probes termed molecular rotors proved extremely useful for exploring viscosity, crowding, and underlying molecular interactions in biologically relevant settings. In this review, we will discuss the basic principles underpinning the functionality of these probes and will review advances in their use as sensors for lipid order, protein crowding and conformation, temperature and non-canonical nucleic acid structures in live cells and other relevant biological settings.

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