Recent progress in design of protein-based fluorescent biosensors and their cellular applications

Protein-based fluorescent biosensors have emerged as key bioanalytical tools to visualize and quantify a wide range of biological substances and events in vitro, in cells, and even in vivo. On the basis of the construction method, the protein-based fluorescent biosensors can be principally classified into two classes: (1) genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors harnessing fluorescent proteins (FPs) and (2) semisynthetic biosensors comprised of protein scaffolds and synthetic fluorophores. Recent advances in protein engineering and chemical biology not only allowed the further optimization of conventional biosensors but also facilitated the creation of novel biosensors based on unique strategies. In this review, we survey the recent studies in the development and improvement of protein-based fluorescent biosensors and highlight the successful applications to live cell and in vivo imaging. Furthermore, we provide perspectives on possible future directions of the technique.