We describe affinity sensors for monitoring various metabolites in blood plasma by optical means. The principle of detection is similar to that used in radioimmunoassays and is based on the competitive binding of a particular metabolite and a fluorescein-labeled analogue with receptor sites specific for the metabolite and the labeled ligand. This concept has been directed toward the development of an affinity sensor for glucose. Concanavalin A, a protein with specific binding character for glucose, was immobilized on the inside surface of a hollow dialysis fiber. Fluorescein-labeled dextran was selected as the competitive labeled ligand. The molecular weight cutoff of the dialysis fiber is low enough to completely retain the 70,000 MW dextran within the fiber lumen while glucose can freely pass through the dialysis membrane. The sensor is completed by inserting a single optical fiber in the lumen of the dialysis fiber, thus allowing measurement of the unbound FITC-dextran. Preliminary tests of the sensor indicated the feasibility of the approach. Sensitivity to glucose in the physiologic range was obtained, but further work will be required to optimize the sensitivity and response time of the sensor.

A novel concept of a fluorescence affinity hollow fiber sensor for transdermal glucose monitoring is demonstrated. The glucose-sensing principle is based on the competitive reversible binding of a mobile fluorophore-labeled Concanavalin A (Con A) to immobile pendant glucose moites inside of intensely colored Sephadex beads. The highly porous beads (molecular weight cutoff of 200 kDa) were colored with two red dyes, Safranin O and Pararosanilin, selected to block the excitation and spectrum of the fluorophore Alexa488. The sensor consists of the dyed beads and Alexa488-Con A confined inside a sealed, small segment of a hollow fiber dialysis membrane (diameter 0.5 mm, length 0.5 cm, molecular weight cutoff 10 kDa). In the absence of glucose, the majority of Alexa488-Con A resides inside the colored beads bound to fixed glucose. Thus, excitation light at 490 nm impinging on the sensor is strongly absorbed by the dyes, resulting in a drastically reduced fluorescence emission at 520 nm from the Alexa488-Con A residing within the beads. However, when the hollow fiber sensor is exposed to glucose, glucose diffuses through the membrane into the sensor chamber and competitively displaces Alexa 488-Con A molecules from the glucose residues of the Sephadex beads. Thus, Alexa 488-Con A appears in the void space outside of the beads and is fully exposed to the excitation light, and a strong increase in fluorescence emission at 520 nm is measured. At a medium to high loading degree of Sephadex with Alexa488-Con A (10 mg mL(-1) bead suspension), the absolute fluorescence increase due to 20 mM glucose was very large. It exceeded the response of other sensor devices based on FRET by a factor of 50 (Meadows and Schultz Anal. Chim. Acta 1993, 280, 21-30; Russell et al. Anal. Chem. 1999, 71, 3126-3132). The new sensor featured a glucose detection range extending from 0.15 to 100 mM, exhibiting the strongest dynamic signal change from 0.2 to 30 mM. It showed a reasonably fast response time (4-5 min). The combination of all the beneficial sensor features makes this sensor extremely attractive for future in vivo implantation studies for glucose monitoring in subdermal tissue.

Real-time monitoring of blood glucose could vastly reduce a number of the long-term complications associated with diabetes. In this article, we present a novel approach that relies on a glucose-binding protein engineered such that a 20% reduction in fluorescence due to the fluorescence resonance energy transfer occurs as a result of glucose binding. This change in fluorescence provides a signal for the optical detection of glucose. The novel glucose indicator protein (GIP) was created by fusing two fluorescent reporter proteins (green fluorescent proteins) to each end of an Escherichia coli glucose-binding protein in such a manner that the spatial separation between the fluorescent moieties changes when glucose binds, thus generating a distinct optical signal that can be used for glucose detection. By placing the GIP within a dialysis hollow fiber sensor, a microsensor has been developed for continuous monitoring of glucose. The sensor had a response time to sudden glucose changes within 100 s and was reversible. The sensor was shown to have an optional range on the order of 10 microM of glucose.

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Optical fiber biosensors based on fluorescence assays have several distinct advantages when measuring biological analytes such as metabolites, cofactors, toxins, etc. Not only are optical signals immune to electronic interferences, but the polychromatic nature of most fluorochemical assays provides more potentially useful data about the system being studied. One of the most common difficulties normally encountered with optical biosensors is the inability to routinely recalibrate the optical and electronic components of the system throughout the life of the sensor. With this in mind, an optical fiber biosensor system for glucose has been constructed along with the peripheral electronic instrumentation. The biochemical assay is based on an homogeneous singlet/singlet energy transfer affinity assay. The sensor probe indirectly measures glucose concentrations from the level of fluorescence quenching caused by the homogeneous competition assay between TRITC labeled concanavalin A (receptor) and FITC labeled Dextran (ligand). The FITC signal is used as an indicator for glucose concentrations and the TRITC signal is used for internal calibration. Chemical derivatization procedures using succinic anhydride were developed to prevent aggregation of the receptor protein in solution, and the TRITC/ConA ratios were optimized to achieve the best sensor performance. Using this sensor system, the FITC-Dextran detection limit was 0.05 bg/ml and glucose concentrations up to 1600 mg/dl could be detected with a time response of approximately 10 min.