Pablo Rivera-Fuentes

Pablo Rivera-Fuentes received MSc and PhD degrees in chemistry from ETH Zurich. After postdoctoral appointments at MIT and Oxford University, he started started a small independent research group at ETH Zurich in late 2015 and became assistant professor of chemical biology at EPFL in 2019. In February 2022, he joined the University of Zurich as associate professor of bioorganic chemistry. His research has been generously funded by, e.g., an ERC Starting Grant and the SNSF Eccellenza Grant.

Chemigenetic fluorescent probes for cell imaging

Self-labeling proteins such as HaloTag and SNAP-tag are excellent platforms for the development of tools for cell imaging that combine the best features of genetically encoded and small-molecule probes. In this lecture, I will discuss two recent examples of such hybrid chemical and genetic (chemigenetic) tools for protein visualization and redox sensing at long wavelengths.

Fluorescent proteins enable real time visualization of processes in living cells, but their photophysical properties are often inferior to those of highly optimized organic fluorophores. Self-labeling proteins have been combined with fluorogenic rhodamine dyes to give excellent fluorescent markers for cell imaging. Further engineering of both the dye and protein parts can lead to advanced applications, such as quantitative sensors and near-infrared dyes for potential in vivo applications.

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