A Minireview of Recent Reported Carboxylesterase Fluorescent Probes: Design and Biological Applications

Abstract

As the most important members of serine esterase hydrolase superfamily, mammalian carboxylesterases (CESs) are widely distributed in various tissues like liver, intestine, lung and kidney. Many physiological processes require the hydrolysis of CES with a variety of endogenous and exogenous ester drugs and environmental poisons. So, developing the methods that can detect CESs activity is of great significance. In last decades, huge breakthrough has been made in the development of specific detection technologies including chromatography, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), proteomics and western blotting. However, these traditional methods for CESs detection have little effect on the spatiotemporal distribution and in situ activity of CES in living cells and in vivo. Compared with that, fluorogenic methods have been developed for real-time monitoring CESs in biological environments. In this review, we summarized the recent reported CESs probes. The designing strategies as well as their applications are reviewed. We hope this review will inspire the development of novel specific CESs fluorescent probes.

A carboxylesterase-activatable near-infrared phototheranostic probe for tumor fluorescence imaging and photodynamic therapy

“…However, upon treatment with HCH-AcAH, bright red fluorescence was observed in the cytoplasm of HeLa cells, with negligible fluorescence in the nucleus. The reason for this phenomenon may be the location behaviors of CES 35 and the generated fluorophore HCH, which mainly resided in the cytoplasm instead of nucleus (Fig. S10 † ).…”

“…[27][28][29][30][31][32] Besides, some CESresponsive uorescence probes for single imaging were proposed. [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] These probes were generally designed by incorporating varied substrates with carboxyl groups into uorophores with hydroxyl groups, which displayed rational sensitivity and selectivity toward CES. They have been used for bioimaging at cellular level or in vivo, verifying the feasibility of such sensing strategy.…”

A Fast-Response AIE-Active Ratiometric Fluorescent Probe for the Detection of Carboxylesterase

“…Fortunately, small-molecular fluorescent probes, with the merits of high sensitivity and specificity, facile operation, and noninvasiveness, are emerging as a powerful tool for both fast and reliable diagnosis of various diseases [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Recently, the carboxylesterase (CaE) activity/level in human plasma was reported to be a novel serological biomarker candidate for HCC, as proven in previously reported research results [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Encouraged by this aspect, small-molecular fluorescent probes for CaE have been reported and applied in liver-related imaging and diagnosis [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ].…”

A fast fluorescent probe for tracing endoplasmic reticulum‐located carboxylesterase in living cells

“…[5][6][7] They are mainly localized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of liver, lung, and kidney. [8] In addition to being involved in drug metabolism and activation in the ER, CEs have participated in protein synthesis, transportation, and other activities. [9] Furthermore, CEs have also been associated with several diseases.…”