| As a secondly most abundant transition metal ion in human body, zinc plays many essential roles in many biochemical and cellular processes, such as neurotransmission, enzymatic activity and cell apoptosis. Zinc also has anti-apoptotic and antioxidant properties by binding sulphydryl groups in proteins and by occupying binding sites for iron and copper in lipids, proteins and DNA. Imbalance of Zn2+can cause neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.The specific roles of zinc and their relevance to physiological processes still not fully understood and remain hot topic of research. Nowadays, many specific zinc sensors which offers higher sensitivity and selectivity have been used to detect intracellular zinc for its speediness and convenience. This straight-forward method facilitates the study of zinc in biological samples and might potentially solve many relevant biological process.A novel fluorescence zinc sensor based on genetically encoded a fluoresence zinc finger protein fusion with ECFP and EYFP/cpVenus has been designed and expressed. The new probe displays a high selectivity and sensitivity for Zn2+. Importantly, we demonstrate that this protein sensor shows higher pH stability under alkalescent condition, which might expand its application for detection of zinc in living cell organelles. |
