Biosensor array system developed using precursors from PolySciTech

One exciting field of research is the development of biosensors which allow for rapid, high-throughput tests of a wide array of analytes from a biological fluid. Recently, researchers utilized Folate-PEG-COOH (PolyVivo AE003) from PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) as part of development of a sensor array system. This research holds promise for improved diagnostic technologies. Read more: Beyene, Abraham G., Gozde S. Demirer, and Markita P. Landry. "Nanoparticle‐Templated Molecular Recognition Platforms for Detection of Biological Analytes." Current protocols in chemical biology (2016): 197-223. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cpch.10/full

 “Abstract: Molecular recognition of biological analytes with optical nanosensors provides both spatial and temporal biochemical information. A recently developed sensing platform exploits near-infrared fluorescent single-wall carbon nanotubes combined with electrostatically pinned heteropolymers to yield a synthetic molecular recognition technique that is maximally transparent through biological matter. This molecular recognition technique is known as corona phase molecular recognition (CoPhMoRe). In CoPhMoRe, the specificity of a folded polymer toward an analyte does not arise from a pre-existing polymer-analyte chemical affinity. Rather, specificity is conferred through conformational changes undergone by a polymer that is pinned to the surface of a nanoparticle in the presence of an analyte and the subsequent modifications in fluorescence readout of the nanoparticles. The protocols in this article describe a novel single-molecule microscopy tool (near-infrared fluorescence and total internal reflection fluorescence [nIRF TIRF] hybrid microscope) to visualize the CoPhMoRe recognition process, enabling a better understanding of synthetic molecular recognition. We describe this requisite microscope for simultaneous single-molecule visualization of optical molecular recognition and signal transduction. We elaborate on the general procedures for synthesizing and identifying single-walled carbon nanotube-based sensors that employ CoPhMoRe via two biologically relevant examples of single-molecule recognition for the hormone estradiol and the neurotransmitter dopamine. Keywords: fluorescence microscopy;molecular recognition;near-infrared imaging;nanoparticles;neurotransmitter;nIRF TIRF hybrid microscope;single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT);screening;single molecule imaging;sensors”