Discovery of quinazoline-based fluorescent probes to α1-adrenergic receptors

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ml5004298

α₁-Adrenergic receptors (α₁-ARs), as the essential members of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), can mediate numerous physiological responses in the sympathetic nervous system. In the current research, a series of quinazoline-based small-molecule fluorescent probes to α₁-ARs (1a-1e), including two parts, a pharmacophore for α₁-AR recognition and a fluorophore for visualization, were well designed and synthesized. The biological evaluation results displayed that these probes held reasonable fluorescent properties, high affinity, accepted cell toxicity, and excellent subcellular localization imaging potential for α₁-ARs.