A methodology for creating fluorescent molecular sensors that respond to changes that occur on the surfaces of specific proteins is presented. This approach, which relies on binding cooperatively between a specific His-tag binder and a nonspecific protein-surface receptor, enabled the development of a sensor that can track changes on the surface of a His-tag-labeled calmodulin (His-CaM) upon interacting with metal ions, small molecules, and protein binding partners. The way this approach was used to detect dephosphorylation of an unlabeled calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), and the binding of Bax BH3 to His-tagged B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) protein is also presented.

Invited for the cover of this issue is the group of David Margulies at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel). The image highlights the analogy between fluorescent molecular sensors and a miniaturized camera that can capture changes that occur at the nanoscale and shed light on the structural state of proteins. Read the full text of the article at 10.1002/chem.201502069.

Protein surface recognition by synthetic receptors is a challenging goal in the analytical biosciences owing to the immense complexity of the biological targets. In their Full Paper on , D. Margulies et al. describe the development of a method for tracking changes that occur on the surfaces of specific proteins with fluorescent molecular probes. The authors demonstrate how such systems could be used to detect surface modifications of genetically labelled proteins, which results from the binding to metal ions, small molecules, and protein partners.

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