Advances in lanthanide-based luminescent peptide probes for monitoring the activity of kinase and phosphatase

Signaling pathways based on protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation play critical roles in the orchestration of complex biochemical events and form the core of most signaling pathways in cells (i.e. cell cycle regulation, cell motility, apoptosis, etc.). The understanding of these complex signaling networks is based largely on the biochemical study of their components, i.e. kinases and phosphatases. The development of luminescent sensors for monitoring kinase and phosphatase activity is therefore an active field of research. Examples in the literature usually rely on the modulation of the fluorescence emission of organic fluorophores. However, given the exceptional photophysical properties of lanthanide ions, there is an increased interest in their application as emissive species for monitoring kinase and phosphatase activity. This review summarizes the advances in the development of lanthanide-based luminescent peptide sensors as tools for the study of kinases and phosphatases and provides a critical description of current examples and synthetic approaches to understand these lanthanide-based luminescent peptide sensors.