Patent ID: 8133482

Claim:
A conjugate comprising a substrate that comprises a recognition sequence cleavable by proteolytic enzyme, a photoactivatable killing agent, and a quencher, wherein said photoactivatable killing agent is operably linked to one end of said substrate and said quencher is operably linked to another end of said substrate, wherein said proteolytic enzyme is capable of recognizing said recognition sequence in said substrate, wherein said conjugate is capable of providing an intact form and a cleaved form, wherein in said conjugate in said intact form, the distance between said photoactivatable killing agent and said quencher is sufficient for said quencher to quench photoactivation of said photoactivatable killing agent; and wherein in said conjugate in said cleaved form, said photoactivatable killing agent is separated from said quencher as a result of said enzyme contacting said substrate for a period of time and conditions sufficient to proteolytically cleave said recognition sequence, thereby said photoactivatable killing agent is not quenched by said quencher.