Due to the high sensitivity and high spatiotemporal resolution, the development of excellent spectroscopic (chromogenic, fluorescent, or chemiluminescent) probes has attracted much attention. Prof. Ma’s research group at the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been engaged in this field for more than two decades, during which a series of new spectroscopic probes and sensing/labeling methods for biologically active species have been developed by employing different chemical reactions. Based on their outstanding achievements in the field, Prof. Ma and his colleagues have been invited to summarize various design strategies on spectroscopic probes (Chem. Commun., 2012, 48, 8732-8744; Chem. Rev., 2014, 114, 590-659; Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 6309-6315).

Recently, by designing 3-hydroxybenzyl as a new recognition unit, they have developed a near-infrared fluorescence probe for the assay of tyrosinase activity. The probe effectively eliminates the interference from reactive oxygen species (Figure 1). Moreover, the probe has been successfully used to image the endogenous tyrosinase activity in live cells and zebrafish by confocal fluorescence imaging, which is further validated by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Figure 1. New spectroscopic probe and its use in fluorescence imaging of tyrosinase activity