Bhussry Seminar Series – “Bright and Rapid Click-Chemistry Strategies: ‘Turn-Off/On’ Probes for Live Cell Imaging”

Presentation: “Bright and Rapid Click-Chemistry Strategies: ‘Turn-Off/On’ Probes for Live Cell Imaging”

Speaker: Ozlem Dilek, PhD
College of Arts and Sciences, Division of Science and Mathematics
University of the District of Columbia

Sponsored by the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology

Abstract:

Fluorescent probes design via click chemistry approaches are of critical importance in biomedical imaging applications. These applications occur under conditions that are compatible with a biological environment, with exogenous functional groups that form a covalent bond with one another without reacting with endogenous reactive functional groups. Owing to their utility in site-specific click-chemistry reactions, a variety of classes of reagents are widely used and discovery of new reactions is a very active area of research. A remaining challenge for many of these reactions is that they occur slowly at physiological pH or quench fluorescence during imaging. Therefore, introduction of effective turn off/on probes with a smart click-chemistry strategy into the cellular systems is essential. This talk will highlight the range of several chemical tools we have developed so far and the new probe developments for live cell imaging.