Abstract
In recent years, we and other workers have developed fluorescence-based sensors and biosensors for Zn2+ and other free metal ions in solution, which have proven valuable as tools for the study of the biology of metal ions. Using the sensors in some applications such as in vivo molecular imaging has been challenging, owing to the difficulty of exciting fluorophores deep in tissues which scatter and absorb exciting light effectively. One approach used by investigators to minimize this problem is the use of bioluminescent labels for in vivo imaging, which perforce require no exciting light. We have employed a bioluminescence resonance energy transfer approach with our carbonic anhydrase-based zinc biosensor to produce a ratiometric bioluminescence-based zinc biosensor.
