Graphene–hemin hybrid nanosheets as a label-free colorimetric platform for DNA and small molecule assays

RSC Advances ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (109) ◽  
pp. 64252-64257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cui Hu ◽  
Qiang Xi ◽  
Jia Ge ◽  
Feng-Yan Luo ◽  
Li-Juan Tang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Molecules ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
Label Free

A novel colorimetric platform has been developed for detecting DNA and small molecules based on a graphene–hemin hybrid nanosheet in a homogenous solution.

scholarly journals A Simple Displacement Aptamer Assay on Resistive Pulse Sensor for Small Molecule Detection

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhushabh Maugi ◽  
bernadette gamble ◽  
david bunka ◽  
Mark Platt
Keyword(s):  
Small Molecules ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
Label Free ◽  
Resistive Pulse ◽  
Pulse Sensor ◽  
Label Free Detection ◽  
Ssdna Aptamer ◽  
Aptamer Assay ◽  
Small Molecule Detection ◽  
Surface Changes

A universal aptamer-based sensing strategy is proposed using DNA modified nanocarriers and Resistive Pulse Sensing for the rapid and label free detection of small molecules. The surface of a magnetic nanocarrier was first modified with a ssDNA aka linker which is designed to be partially complimentary in sequence to a ssDNA aptamer. The aptamer and linker form a stable dsDNA complex on the nanocarriers surface. Upon the addition of the target molecule, a conformational change takes place where the aptamer preferentially binds to the target over the linker; causing the aptamer to be released into solution. The RPS measures the change in velocity of the nanocarrier as its surface changes from dsDNA to ssDNA, and its velocity is used as a proxy for the concentration of the target. We illustrate the versatility of the assay by demonstrating the detection of the antibiotic Moxifloxacin, and chemotherapeutics Imatinib and Irinotecan.

scholarly journals Mechanism-based sirtuin enzyme activation

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiangying Guan ◽  
Alok Upadhyay ◽  
Sudipto Munshi ◽  
Raj Chakrabarti
Keyword(s):  
Small Molecules ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
False Positives ◽  
Enzyme Activation ◽  
Label Free ◽  
Multiple Substrates ◽  
Dependent Protein ◽  
Biophysical Techniques ◽  
Catalyzed Reactions ◽  
Small Molecule Modulators

AbstractSirtuin enzymes are NAD+-dependent protein deacylases that play a central role in the regulation of healthspan and lifespan in organisms ranging from yeast to mammals. There is intense interest in the activation of the seven mammalian sirtuins (SIRT1-7) in order to extend mammalian healthspan and lifespan. However, there is currently no understanding of how to design sirtuin-activating compounds beyond allosteric activators of SIRT1-catalyzed reactions that are limited to particular substrates. Moreover, across all families of enzymes, only a dozen or so distinct classes of non-natural small molecule activators have been characterized, with only four known modes of activation among them. None of these modes of activation are based on the unique catalytic reaction mechanisms of the target enzymes. Here, we report a general mode of sirtuin activation that is distinct from the known modes of enzyme activation. Based on the conserved mechanism of sirtuin-catalyzed deacylation reactions, we establish biophysical properties of small molecule modulators that can in principle result in enzyme activation for diverse sirtuins and substrates. Building upon this framework, we propose strategies for the identification, characterization and evolution of hits for mechanism-based enzyme activating compounds. We characterize several small molecules reported in the literature to activate sirtuins besides SIRT1, using a variety of biochemical and biophysical techniques including label-free and labeled kinetic and thermodynamic assays with multiple substrates and protocols for the identification of false positives. We provide evidence indicating that several of these small molecules reported in the published literature are false positives, and identify others as hit compounds for the design of compounds that can activate sirtuins through the proposed mechanism-based mode of action.

An omega-like DNA nanostructure utilized for small molecule introduction to stimulate formation of DNAzyme–aptamer conjugates

2014 ◽  
Vol 50 (15) ◽  
pp. 1900-1902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingqian Liu ◽  
Bing Zhang ◽  
Guonan Chen ◽  
Dianping Tang
Keyword(s):  
Small Molecules ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
Electronic Monitoring ◽  
Label Free ◽  
Dna Nanostructure ◽  
First Time ◽  
Target Analyte

A novel, label-free omega-like DNA nanostructure was for the first time utilized for the homogenous electronic monitoring of small molecules (ATP used in this case) accompanying the formation of DNAzyme–aptamer conjugates upon target analyte introduction.

scholarly journals A Simple Displacement Aptamer Assay on Resistive Pulse Sensor for Small Molecule Detection

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhushabh Maugi ◽  
bernadette gamble ◽  
david bunka ◽  
Mark Platt
Keyword(s):  
Small Molecules ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
Label Free ◽  
Resistive Pulse ◽  
Pulse Sensor ◽  
Label Free Detection ◽  
Ssdna Aptamer ◽  
Aptamer Assay ◽  
Small Molecule Detection ◽  
Surface Changes

A universal aptamer-based sensing strategy is proposed using DNA modified nanocarriers and Resistive Pulse Sensing for the rapid and label free detection of small molecules. The surface of a magnetic nanocarrier was first modified with a ssDNA aka linker which is designed to be partially complimentary in sequence to a ssDNA aptamer. The aptamer and linker form a stable dsDNA complex on the nanocarriers surface. Upon the addition of the target molecule, a conformational change takes place where the aptamer preferentially binds to the target over the linker; causing the aptamer to be released into solution. The RPS measures the change in velocity of the nanocarrier as its surface changes from dsDNA to ssDNA, and its velocity is used as a proxy for the concentration of the target. We illustrate the versatility of the assay by demonstrating the detection of the antibiotic Moxifloxacin, and chemotherapeutics Imatinib and Irinotecan.

scholarly journals Electrochemical aptasensors: unravelling the critical interactions between aptamers, ligands, and electrodes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clément Sester
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Structural Change ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
Electrostatic Interactions ◽  
Label Free ◽  
Ligand Interaction ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Spurious Signals ◽  
Entropically Driven

<p><b>Aptamers are synthetic nucleic acid single-stranded oligonucleotides that bind to a wide range of ligands, including cells, proteins, DNA strands, metal ions, and small molecules, with high specificity and affinity. Aptamers have also proven to be highly stable, readily adaptable to chemical modifications, and exhibit reversible binding. As a result, aptamer-based biosensors (aptasensors) are promising replacements for antibody-based biosensors in many applications, particularly for small molecule ligands. This thesis explores an aptamer that binds the drug methamphetamine, and its prospects when incorporated in an electrochemical (e-chem) signal transduction platform. Specifically, we examine the range of interactions between the aptamer and ligand, and with electrodes, and identify a number of challenges in generating robust e-chem aptasensors.</b></p> <p>Due to their size and limited number of functional groups, further understanding of the aptamer-small molecule ligand interactions is required for the design of future aptasensors – particularly the thermodynamics and structural information about the aptamer-ligand interaction. In fact, detecting small molecules with aptasensors can become challenging because target addition may induce little structural change, and therefore numerous nonspecific interactions may emerge as transduced signals from the biosensor. In this thesis, the combination of spectroscopic and calorimetric analytical techniques reveals a conformational selection binding model, in which binding is entropically driven, and the meth binds via hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions and only induces a modest structural change. This first-of-its-kind study is important for the selection and the design of the aptasensor transduction system.</p> <p>Electrochemical (e-chem) aptasensors offer high inherent sensitivity and practicality as a signal transduction platform. Indeed, different e-chem aptasensor formats have been published before, including labelled and label-free sensors. In screening the viability of three commonly used methods – including labelled and label-free, as well voltammetric and impedance-based methods – we find that each of them suffers from instability of the aptamer-functionalised electrode. This instability compromises our ability to resolve real signals and prompted us to develop ways to understand – and suppress – this baseline drift.</p> <p>The functionalization of the electrode is the critical step in terms of self-assembled monolayer (SAM) stability and SAM aptamer density. Consequently, different protocols of SAMformation were explored and evaluated with respect to stability. We find that instability arises from the uncontrolled arrangement of thiolated aptamers on gold electrodes (including aptamers lying down on the electrode), which is in turn affected by the density of aptamers that can be coupled to the surface. As a consequence, a new protocol is developed using disulfide aptamer pairs to increase the density of correctly tethered aptamers, and generate a stable SAM.</p> <p>Because of the high sensitivity of electrochemical platforms, numerous spurious electrochemical signals may be produced, and controlled for in order to confirm a positive ligand-binding signal. The specificity of the aptamer-target interaction can be checked by testing the response with an interferent molecule, or by substituting the aptamer with a non-binding nucleotide sequence. In this work, these control experiments reveal that target and interferent molecules interact directly (and in different ways) with the bare gold surface, as well as perturbing signals from the aptamer in ways that cannot be linked to a specific aptamer-ligand complex formation. Ultimately, these spurious signals compromise our ability to confirm a real binding signal.</p> <p>The results from this work provide the first clear picture of how an aptamer binds to its small molecule target – which we find is entropically driven, and with only minor structural change induced in the aptamer stem. In addition, the label-free EIS measurements on aptamer SAM electrodes reveal the nature of instabilities, and reveal spurious signals that cannot be sufficiently suppressed at this stage. This knowledge highlights the difficulty in fabricating e-chem aptasensors, and will assist in overcoming challenges faced during research and commercialization of aptasensors area, as well as contributing new insights into troubleshooting, data acquisition, and data validation.</p>

scholarly journals Electrochemical aptasensors: unravelling the critical interactions between aptamers, ligands, and electrodes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clément Sester
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Structural Change ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
Electrostatic Interactions ◽  
Label Free ◽  
Ligand Interaction ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Spurious Signals ◽  
Entropically Driven

<p><b>Aptamers are synthetic nucleic acid single-stranded oligonucleotides that bind to a wide range of ligands, including cells, proteins, DNA strands, metal ions, and small molecules, with high specificity and affinity. Aptamers have also proven to be highly stable, readily adaptable to chemical modifications, and exhibit reversible binding. As a result, aptamer-based biosensors (aptasensors) are promising replacements for antibody-based biosensors in many applications, particularly for small molecule ligands. This thesis explores an aptamer that binds the drug methamphetamine, and its prospects when incorporated in an electrochemical (e-chem) signal transduction platform. Specifically, we examine the range of interactions between the aptamer and ligand, and with electrodes, and identify a number of challenges in generating robust e-chem aptasensors.</b></p> <p>Due to their size and limited number of functional groups, further understanding of the aptamer-small molecule ligand interactions is required for the design of future aptasensors – particularly the thermodynamics and structural information about the aptamer-ligand interaction. In fact, detecting small molecules with aptasensors can become challenging because target addition may induce little structural change, and therefore numerous nonspecific interactions may emerge as transduced signals from the biosensor. In this thesis, the combination of spectroscopic and calorimetric analytical techniques reveals a conformational selection binding model, in which binding is entropically driven, and the meth binds via hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions and only induces a modest structural change. This first-of-its-kind study is important for the selection and the design of the aptasensor transduction system.</p> <p>Electrochemical (e-chem) aptasensors offer high inherent sensitivity and practicality as a signal transduction platform. Indeed, different e-chem aptasensor formats have been published before, including labelled and label-free sensors. In screening the viability of three commonly used methods – including labelled and label-free, as well voltammetric and impedance-based methods – we find that each of them suffers from instability of the aptamer-functionalised electrode. This instability compromises our ability to resolve real signals and prompted us to develop ways to understand – and suppress – this baseline drift.</p> <p>The functionalization of the electrode is the critical step in terms of self-assembled monolayer (SAM) stability and SAM aptamer density. Consequently, different protocols of SAMformation were explored and evaluated with respect to stability. We find that instability arises from the uncontrolled arrangement of thiolated aptamers on gold electrodes (including aptamers lying down on the electrode), which is in turn affected by the density of aptamers that can be coupled to the surface. As a consequence, a new protocol is developed using disulfide aptamer pairs to increase the density of correctly tethered aptamers, and generate a stable SAM.</p> <p>Because of the high sensitivity of electrochemical platforms, numerous spurious electrochemical signals may be produced, and controlled for in order to confirm a positive ligand-binding signal. The specificity of the aptamer-target interaction can be checked by testing the response with an interferent molecule, or by substituting the aptamer with a non-binding nucleotide sequence. In this work, these control experiments reveal that target and interferent molecules interact directly (and in different ways) with the bare gold surface, as well as perturbing signals from the aptamer in ways that cannot be linked to a specific aptamer-ligand complex formation. Ultimately, these spurious signals compromise our ability to confirm a real binding signal.</p> <p>The results from this work provide the first clear picture of how an aptamer binds to its small molecule target – which we find is entropically driven, and with only minor structural change induced in the aptamer stem. In addition, the label-free EIS measurements on aptamer SAM electrodes reveal the nature of instabilities, and reveal spurious signals that cannot be sufficiently suppressed at this stage. This knowledge highlights the difficulty in fabricating e-chem aptasensors, and will assist in overcoming challenges faced during research and commercialization of aptasensors area, as well as contributing new insights into troubleshooting, data acquisition, and data validation.</p>

scholarly journals Critical angle reflection imaging for quantification of molecular interactions on glass surface

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangzhong Ma ◽  
Runli Liang ◽  
Zijian Wan ◽  
Shaopeng Wang
Keyword(s):  
Refractive Index ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
Molecular Interactions ◽  
Glass Surface ◽  
Critical Angle ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Refractive Index Change ◽  
Label Free ◽  
Index Change ◽  
Sensing Range

AbstractQuantification of molecular interactions on a surface is typically achieved via label-free techniques such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The sensitivity of SPR originates from the characteristic that the SPR angle is sensitive to the surface refractive index change. Analogously, in another interfacial optical phenomenon, total internal reflection, the critical angle is also refractive index dependent. Therefore, surface refractive index change can also be quantified by measuring the reflectivity near the critical angle. Based on this concept, we develop a method called critical angle reflection (CAR) imaging to quantify molecular interactions on glass surface. CAR imaging can be performed on SPR imaging setups. Through a side-by-side comparison, we show that CAR is capable of most molecular interaction measurements that SPR performs, including proteins, nucleic acids and cell-based detections. In addition, we show that CAR can detect small molecule bindings and intracellular signals beyond SPR sensing range. CAR exhibits several distinct characteristics, including tunable sensitivity and dynamic range, deeper vertical sensing range, fluorescence compatibility, broader wavelength and polarization of light selection, and glass surface chemistry. We anticipate CAR can expand SPR′s capability in small molecule detection, whole cell-based detection, simultaneous fluorescence imaging, and broader conjugation chemistry.

scholarly journals STEM-20. A CANCER STEM CELL-SELECTIVE APOPTOSIS-INDUCING SMALL MOLECULE FOR THE TREATMENT OF GBM

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii200-ii200
Author(s):  
Stephen Skirboll ◽  
Natasha Lucki ◽  
Genaro Villa ◽  
Naja Vergani ◽  
Michael Bollong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Cancer Stem Cells ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Tumor Formation ◽  
Cell Type ◽  
Caspase 1 ◽  
Activation Assay

Abstract INTRODUCTION Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive form of primary brain cancer. A subpopulation of multipotent cells termed GBM cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a critical role in tumor initiation and maintenance, drug resistance, and recurrence following surgery. New therapeutic strategies for the treatment of GBM have recently focused on targeting CSCs. Here we have used an unbiased large-scale screening approach to identify drug-like small molecules that induce apoptosis in GBM CSCs in a cell type-selective manner. METHODS A luciferase-based survival assay of patient-derived GBM CSC lines was established to perform a large-scale screen of ∼one million drug-like small molecules with the goal of identifying novel compounds that are selectively toxic to chemoresistant GBM CSCs. Compounds found to kill GBM CSC lines as compared to control cell types were further characterized. A caspase activation assay was used to evaluate the mechanism of induced cell death. A xenograft animal model using patient-derived GBM CSCs was employed to test the leading candidate for suppression of in vivo tumor formation. RESULTS We identified a small molecule, termed RIPGBM, from the cell-based chemical screen that induces apoptosis in primary patient-derived GBM CSC cultures. The cell type-dependent selectivity of RIPGBM appears to arise at least in part from redox-dependent formation of a proapoptotic derivative, termed cRIPGBM, in GBM CSCs. cRIPGBM induces caspase 1-dependent apoptosis by binding to receptor-interacting protein kinase 2 (RIPK2) and acting as a molecular switch, which reduces the formation of a prosurvival RIPK2/TAK1 complex and increases the formation of a proapoptotic RIPK2/caspase 1 complex. In an intracranial GBM xenograft mouse model, RIPGBM was found to significantly suppress tumor formation. CONCLUSIONS Our chemical genetics-based approach has identified a small molecule drug candidate and a potential drug target that selectively targets cancer stem cells and provides an approach for the treatment of GBMs.

scholarly journals Highly Multiplexed Label-Free Imaging Sensor for Accurate Quantification of Small-Molecule Binding Kinetics

ACS Omega ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (39) ◽  
pp. 25358-25364
Author(s):  
Elisa Chiodi ◽  
Allison M. Marn ◽  
Matthew T. Geib ◽  
Fulya Ekiz Kanik ◽  
John Rejman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Molecule ◽  
Binding Kinetics ◽  
Label Free ◽  
Imaging Sensor ◽  
Accurate Quantification
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