Proteases are enzymes capable of catalyzing protein breakdown, which is critical across many biological processes. There are several families of proteases, each of which perform key functions through the degradation of specific proteins. As our understanding of cancer improves, it has been demonstrated that several proteases can be overactivated during the progression of cancer and contribute to malignancy. Optical imaging systems that employ near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probes to detect protease activity offer clinical promise, both for early detection of cancer as well as for the assessment of personalized therapy. In this Review, we review the design of NIR probes and their successful application for the detection of different cancer-associated proteases.

中文翻译：

---

用于检测癌症相关蛋白酶的近红外荧光探针

蛋白酶是能够催化蛋白质分解的酶，这在许多生物过程中至关重要。有几个蛋白酶家族，每个家族都通过降解特定蛋白质来执行关键功能。随着我们对癌症认识的提高，已经证明在癌症的发展过程中，几种蛋白酶会被过度激活并导致恶性肿瘤。采用近红外 (NIR) 荧光探针检测蛋白酶活性的光学成像系统为癌症的早期检测和个性化治疗的评估提供了临床前景。在这篇综述中，我们回顾了 NIR 探针的设计及其在检测不同癌症相关蛋白酶方面的成功应用。