Panel of Cephem-ScaffoldProbes to Fluorescently DetectCopper through Copper Catalysis

Many fluorescent recognition-based copper probes have been developed, but they generally suffer from a weak fluorescence change upon detection of low-abundance labile copper in biological systems. We have addressed this issue by developing an activity-based copper probe that recycles a portion of copper after detection, thereby amplifying the fluorescence signal. The probe showed good sensitivity and could be applied to in-cell experiments. We expect that similar systems will also be useful for the detection of other bioactive targets that exist at low concentrations.