Design and Evaluation of a Peptidyl Fluorescent Chemosensor for Divalent Zinc

The rapid analysis of trace metal cations for environmental and biomedical applications is particularly demanding since it requires the specific recognition of a particular element in the presence of numerous closely related species. While remarkable progress has been achieved for inorganic analytes, such as Ca^(2+), there is still a significant need for the genesis of new fluorosensors. In light of the selectivity and avidity with which proteins bind divalent metal cations, we have chosen to use a polypeptide architecture as the framework for metal ion recognition.In addition, our ability to manipulate synthetic polypeptides allows the coordinated integration of fluorescent reporters for signal transduction within a metal-binding peptidyl construct. Herein we report the design, synthesis, and evaluation of a selective fluorescent chemosensor, sensitive to nanomolar concentrations of Zn^(2+).