A coumarin-based fluorescence resonance energy transfer probe targeting matrix metalloproteinase-2 for the detection of cervical cancer.

: Cervical cancer is one of the most common gynecological malignancies worldwide. At present, the methods used for cervical cancer screening have many disadvantages. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) is low or absent in normal cervical epithelial cells while overexpressed in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer, which provides the possibility for the detection of cervical cancer based on MMP-2. The development of a strategy with high sensitivity and specificity for cervical cancer detection would be expected to improve the cure rate. Connecting a fluorophore [7-(diethylamino)-2-oxo-2H-chromene-3-succinimidyl ester] with a quencher {4-[4-(dimethylamino)phenylazo]benzoic acid N-succinimidyl ester} via an MMP-2 substrate peptide GPLGVRGKGG, a new coumarin-based fluorescence resonance energy transfer probe targeting MMP-2 was prepared to examine cervical cancer by cell imaging. The cervical cancer cell lines showed green fluorescence with intensities in the order of CaSki > SiHa > C33A > HeLa, which indicated that the cervical cancer cell lines possessed significantly differential expression levels of MMP-2. Quantitative (real‑time) PCR, RT-PCR, and western blot experiments were consistent with such results. The fluorescence detection limit of the probe for MMP-2 was estimated to be 0.05 ng/ml. Therefore, this MMP-2 probe potentially provides a sensitive and specific visual method for cervical cancer screening, diagnosis and prognostic judgment.