Structural insights into the design of reversible fluorescent probes for metallo-β-lactamases NDM-1, VIM-2, and IMP-1

Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) are enzymes that are capable of hydrolyzing most β-lactam antibiotics and all clinically relevant carbapenems. We developed a library of reversible fluorescent turn-on probes that are designed to directly bind to the dizinc active site of these enzymes and can be used to study their dynamic metalation state and enzyme-inhibitor interactions. Structure-function relationships with regards to inhibitory strength and fluorescence turn-on response were evaluated for three representative MBLs.