We develop fluorescent probes for various targets, including metal ions, biomolecules and cancer cells. One feature of our work is to make specific receptor for analyst under the concept of so-called "transformable receptor". Most receptors in existing host-guest chemistry have a confined binding ‘cavity’. The selectivity can be improved through imposing a conformational restraint to the receptor, but due to a single binding pattern, high specificity to an analyte is extremely difficult to achieve. In order to make analyte–binding specific and more favorable, it would be beneficial if the binding pattern of the receptor with analyte is different from that with other competitors. In other words, the receptor is transformable to bind the analyte of choice.