Recognition-Domain Focused Chemosensors: Versatile and Efficient Reporters of Protein Kinase Activity

Catalyzed by kinases, serine/threonine and tyrosine phosphorylation is a vital mechanism of intracellular regulation. Thus, assays that easily monitor kinase activity are critical in both academic and pharmaceutical settings. We previously developed sulfonamido-oxine (Sox)-based fluorescent peptides following a β-turn focused (BTF) design for the continuous assay of kinase activity in vitro and in cell lysates. Upon phosphorylation of the Sox-containing peptide, the chromophore binds Mg2+ and undergoes chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF). Although the design was applied successfully to the development of several kinase sensors, an intrinsic limitation was that only residues C- or N-terminal to the phosphorylated residue could be used to derive specificity for the target kinase. To address this limitation, a new, recognition-domain focused (RDF) strategy was developed that also relies on CHEF. In this approach, the requirement for the constrained β-turn motif is obviated by alkylation of a cysteine resi...