Issue 41, 2021

Enzyme-activated probes in optical imaging: a focus on atherosclerosis

Abstract

Enzyme-activated probes enable complex biological processes to be studied in real-time. A wide range of enzymes are modulated in diseases, including cancer, inflammatory diseases and cardiovascular disease, and have the potential to act as vital diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers to monitor and report on disease progression. In this perspective article, we discuss suitable design characteristics of enzyme-activated fluorescent probes for ex vivo and in vivo optical imaging applications. With a particular focus on atherosclerosis imaging, we highlight recent approaches to report on the activity of cathepsins (K and B), matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9), thrombin, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and myeloperoxidase (MPO).

Graphical abstract: Enzyme-activated probes in optical imaging: a focus on atherosclerosis

Article information

Article type
Perspective
Submitted
02 Jul 2021
Accepted
27 Sep 2021
First published
27 Sep 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Dalton Trans., 2021,50, 14486-14497

Enzyme-activated probes in optical imaging: a focus on atherosclerosis

E. R. H. Walter, S. M. Cooper, J. J. Boyle and N. J. Long, Dalton Trans., 2021, 50, 14486 DOI: 10.1039/D1DT02198B

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