A water-soluble perylene dye functionalised with a 17β-estradiol: a new fluorescent tool for steroid hormones.

We have successfully been able to synthesise a specific estrogen receptor-directed biolabel based on a fluorescent water-soluble perylenebisimide, thus offering great potential for determining the presence of estrogen receptors in any kind of cell. Moreover, this synthetic strategy allows the preparation of other conjugates involved in the study of any kind of receptor, simply by selecting the appropriate agonist or antagonist.