The combination of the generic mobile technology and inherent stability, versatility and cost-effectiveness of the synthetic receptors allows producing optical sensors for potentially any analyte of interest, and, therefore, to qualify as a platform technology for a fast routine analysis of a large number of contaminated samples. To support this statement, we present here a novel miniature sensor based on a combination of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) membranes and a smartphone, which could be used for the point-of-care detection of an important food contaminant, oestrogen-like toxin zearalenone associated with Fusarium contamination of cereals. The detection is based on registration of natural fluorescence of zearalenone using a digital smartphone camera after it binds to the sensor recognition element. The recorded image is further processed using a mobile application. It shows here a first example of the zearalenone-specific MIP membranes synthesised in situ using “dummy template”-based approach with cyclododecyl 2, 4-dihydroxybenzoate as the template and 1-allylpiperazine as a functional monomer. The novel smartphone sensor system based on optimized MIP membranes provides zearalenone detection in cereal samples within the range of 1–10 µg mL−1 demonstrating a detection limit of 1 µg mL−1 in a direct sensing mode. In order to reach the level of sensitivity required for practical application, a competitive sensing mode is also developed. It is based on application of a highly-fluorescent structural analogue of zearalenone (2-[(pyrene-l-carbonyl) amino]ethyl 2,4-dihydroxybenzoate) which is capable to compete with the target mycotoxin for the binding to zearalenone-selective sites in the membrane’s structure. The competitive mode increases 100 times the sensor’s sensitivity and allows detecting zearalenone at 10 ng mL−1. The linear dynamic range in this case comprised 10–100 ng mL−1. The sensor system is tested and found effective for zearalenone detection in maize, wheat and rye flour samples both spiked and naturally contaminated. The developed MIP membrane-based smartphone sensor system is an example of a novel, inexpensive tool for food quality analysis, which is portable and can be used for the “field” measurements and easily translated into the practice.
The cooperative binding of a novel water-soluble cationic derivative of pheophorbide-a (CatPheo-a) to inorganic polyphosphate (PPS) in buffered aqueous solutions was studied by means of polarized fluorescence spectroscopy in a wide range of molar phosphate-to-dye ratios (P/D). Under low P/D values, CatPheo-a forms extended stacking associates on the PPS matrix, while under high P/D the dye binds to PPS in the dimer form. The CatPheo-a self-association is accompanied by 40-fold dye fluorescence quenching and a substantial increase in the fluorescence polarization degree. The fluorescent titration data were used for determination of cooperative binding parameters by Schwarz's method.
In this review we have summarized the results of our recent research on telomerase inhibitors and G-quadruplex DNA ligands. A series of potential enzyme inhibitors were synthesized and studied. These compounds were based on tricyclic heteroaromatic systems (thiazolobenzimidazoles phenazines, acridones), amino-substituted cyanines and natural and synthetic porphyrins and their metalocomplexes. A number of compounds, including cyanines and especially porphyrin derivatives and conjugates, were found to efficiently inhibit telomerase at low micromolar concentrations in the in vitro TRAP assay. Porphyrins demonstrated antiproliferative activity in tumor cell cultures at micro- and nanomolar concentrations. Spectral-fluorescent and electrophoretic experiments were performed to investigate the interaction of ligands with duplex and quadruplex DNA, and in many cases binding mode was established. Convenient G-octet model of G-quadruplex was developed to study the ligand-target binding using quantum-chemical methods. QM/MM hybrid approach ONIUM2 was employed to model the interaction of small molecules with Tel22 quadruplex DNA
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