Fluorescence sensing of intermolecular interactions and development of direct molecular biosensors

Abstract

Molecular biosensors are devices of molecular size that are designed for sensing different analytes on the basis of biospecific recognition. They should provide two coupled functions - the recognition (specific binding) of the target and the transduction of information about the recognition event into a measurable signal. The present review highlights the achievements and prospects in design and operation of molecular biosensors for which the transduction mechanism is based on fluorescence. We focus on the general strategy of fluorescent molecular sensing, construction of sensor elements, based on natural and designed biopolymers (proteins and nucleic acids). Particular attention is given to the coupling of sensing elements with fluorescent reporter dyes and to the methods for producing efficient fluorescence responses.

Beyond annexin V: fluorescence response of cellular membranes to apoptosis

“…Reporting must be based on informative signal originated by the change in intermolecular interactions. This occurs in all the cases, but some of the reporters allow obtaining informative signal from these interactions directly and some require washing or separation steps before the analysis (Altschuh et al 2006). They represent two basic methodologies in application of fluorescence to sensing and imaging (Fig.…”

Development of aliphatic biodegradable photoluminescent polymers

“…The water soluble low-molecular-weight BPLPs may potentially be used for single molecule labeling such as protein and DNA labeling in proteomics and genomics research, where quantum dots may not be ideal because of their size (7,8). The BPLP family may also be suitable for use in fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) (5), 2-photon excited fluorescence microscopy (6), multimodal compositions (combined with magnetic or radionuclear agents) (31), and biosensors (32). BPLP polymers provide real promise for noninvasive real-time monitoring of the scaffold degradation and tissue infiltration/ formation in vivo, which has been a challenge in the evolving field of tissue engineering (33)(34)(35).…”

Dendronization: A Useful Synthetic Strategy to Prepare Multifunctional Materials

“…The globular shape likely results from polymer and dendrimer integration. Conversely to demonstrate the clustering capability of the dendronized polymers, bacterial detection assays were performed [75]. Using confocal microscopy, it was found that the detection limit of the aggregates is similar to that observed using other multivalent biosensors [76,77].…”