A detector oligonucleotide having a Sequence which forms an intramolecularly base-paired Secondary Structure is described for use in detecting nucleic acid target Sequences and target Sequence amplification. The detector oligonucle otide is further modified by linkage to two dyes which form a donor/acceptor dye pair. The two dyes are positioned on the detector oligonucleotide Such that they are in close Spatial proximity in the base-paired, folded Secondary Structure, thereby causing quenching of donor fluorescence. The detector oligonucleotide may optionally further com prise a restriction endonuclease recognition site (RERS) which remains partially or entirely single-Stranded in the base-paired secondary structure. The RERS is flanked by the two dyes. In the presence of target, the base-paired Second ary Structure is unfolded or linearized, increasing the dis tance between the donor and acceptor dyes and causing a change in fluorescence of the donor and/or the acceptor. If an RERS is present, it is rendered double-stranded in the presence of target, allowing cleavage or nicking by a restric tion endonuclease and Separation of the two dyes onto Separate nucleic acid fragments. This may further contribute to the magnitude of the change in fluorescence.

Synthetic bacteriochlorins absorb in the near-infrared (NIR) region and are versatile analogues of natural bacteriochlorophylls. The utilization of these chromophores in energy sciences and photomedicine requires the ability to tailor their physicochemical properties, including the incorporation of units to impart water solubility. Herein, we report the synthesis, from two common bacteriochlorin building blocks, of five wavelength-tunable, bioconjugatable and water-soluble bacteriochlorins along with two non-bioconjugatable benchmarks. Each bacteriochlorin bears short polyethylene glycol (PEG) units as the water-solubilizing motif. The PEG groups are located at the 3,5-positions of aryl groups at the pyrrolic β-positions to suppress aggregation in aqueous media. A handle containing a single carboxylic acid is incorporated to allow bioconjugation. The seven water-soluble bacteriochlorins in water display Qy absorption into the NIR range (679-819 nm), sharp emission (21-36 nm full-width-at-half-maximum) and modest fluorescence quantum yield (0.017-0.13). Each bacteriochlorin is neutral (non-ionic) yet soluble in organic (e.g., CH2Cl2, DMF) and aqueous solutions. Water solubility was assessed using absorption spectroscopy by changing the concentration ∼1000-fold (190-690 µM to 0.19-0.69 µM) with a reciprocal change in pathlength (0.1-10 cm). All bacteriochlorins showed excellent solubility in water, except for a bacteriochlorin-imide that gave slight aggregation at higher concentrations. One bacteriochlorin was conjugated to a mouse polyclonal IgG antibody for use in flow cytometry with compensation beads for proof-of-principle. The antibody conjugate of B2-NHS displayed a sharp signal upon ultraviolet laser excitation (355 nm) with NIR emission measured with a 730/45 nm bandpass filter. Overall, the study gives access to a set of water-soluble bacteriochlorins with desirable photophysical properties for use in multiple fields.

Background: Site-selective modification of proteins at two separate locations using two different reagents is highly desirable for biosensor applications employing fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), but few strategies are available for such modification. To address this challenge, sequential selective modification of two cysteines in glucose/galactose binding protein (GGBP) was demonstrated using a technique we call “ligand protection.” Method: In this technique, two cysteines were introduced in GGBP and one cysteine is rendered inaccessible by the presence of glucose, thus allowing sequential attachment of two different thiol-reactive reagents. The mutant E149C/A213C/L238S was first labeled at E149C in the presence of the ligand glucose. Following dialysis and removal of glucose, the protein was labeled with a second dye, either Texas Red (TR) C5 bromoacetamide or TR C2 maleimide, at the second site, A213C. Results: Changes in glucose-dependent fluorescence were observed that were consistent with FRET between the nitrobenzoxadiazole and TR fluorophores. Comparison of models and spectroscopic properties of the C2 and C5 TR FRET constructs suggests the greater rigidity of the C2 linker provides more efficient FRET. Conclusions: The ligand protection strategy provides a simple method for labeling GGBP with two different fluorophores to construct FRET-based glucose sensors with glucose affinity within the human physiological glucose range (1–30 mM). This general strategy may also have broad utility for other protein-labeling applications.

We report here the first pre-clinical demonstration of continuous glucose tracking by fluorophore-labeled and genetically engineered glucose/galactose binding protein (GGBP). Acrylodan-labeled GGBP was immobilized in a hydrogel matrix at the tip of a small diameter optical fiber contained in a stainless steel needle. The fiber optic biosensors were inserted subcutaneously into Yucatan and Yorkshire swine, and the sensor response to changing glucose levels was monitored at intervals over a 7-day period. Sensor mean percent error on day 7 was 16.4 ± 5.0% using a single daily reference blood glucose value to calibrate the sensor. The GGBP sensor's susceptibility to common interferents was tested in a well-plate system using human sera. No significant interference was observed from the tested interferents except for tetracycline at the drug's maximum plasma concentration. The robust performance of the GGBP-based fiber optic sensor in swine models and resistance to interferents indicates the potential of this technology for continuous glucose monitoring in humans.

Periplasmic expression screening is a selection technique used to enrich high‐affinity proteins in Escherichia coli. We report using this screening method to rapidly select a mutated D‐glucose/D‐galactose‐binding protein (GGBP) having low affinity to glucose. Wild‐type GGBP has an equilibrium dissociation constant of 0.2 μM and mediates the transport of glucose within the periplasm of E. coli. The protein undergoes a large conformational change on binding glucose and, when labeled with an environmentally sensitive fluorophore, GGBP can relay glucose concentrations, making it of potential interest as a biosensor for diabetics. This use necessitates altering the glucose affinity of GGBP, bringing it into the physiologically relevant range for monitoring glucose in humans (1.7–33 mM). To accomplish this a focused library was constructed using structure‐based site‐saturation mutagenesis to randomize amino acids in the binding pocket of GGBP at or near direct H‐bonding sites and screening the library within the bacterial periplasm. After selection, equilibrium dissociation constants were confirmed by glucose titration and fluorescence monitoring of purified mutants labeled site‐specifically at E149C with the fluorophore IANBD (N,N′‐dimethyl‐N‐(iodoacetyl)‐N′‐(7‐nitrobenz‐2‐oxa‐1,3‐diazol‐4‐yl)ethylene‐diamine). The screening identified a single mutation A213R that lowers GGBP glucose affinity 5000‐fold to 1 mM. Computational modeling suggested the large decrease in affinity was accomplished by the arginine side chain perturbing H‐bonding and increasing the entropic barrier to the closed conformation. Overall, these experiments demonstrate the ability of structure‐based site‐saturation mutagenesis and periplasmic expression screening to discover low‐affinity GGBP mutants having potential utility for measuring glucose in humans.

Environmentally sensitive near-IR (NIR) dyes are useful fluorophores for various biosensor applications when tissue absorption, scattering, and autofluorescence are a leading concern. Biosensors operating in the NIR region (generally wavelengths >650 nm) would avoid interference from biological media and thereby facilitate relatively interference free sensing. Squaraine dyes are potential candidates to serve as reporter molecules due to their spectral properties in the NIR region, but none is commercially available for site-specific coupling to proteins through native or engineered thiols on cysteine. In this context, we have synthesized a thiol-reactive squaraine that displays fluorescence emission above 650 nm and have coupled the dye site-specifically to various mutants of glucose/galactose binding protein that contained an engineered cysteine for attachment. Mutant E149C/A213R/ L238S ISQ GGBP gave a fluorescence change of +50% and a binding constant of 12 mM, which is in the human physiological range for glucose.

Two environmentally sensitive, long-wavelength fluorescent phenoxazine derivatives, INR and IANR, were synthesized with linkers for conjugation to the thiol group of cysteine in binding proteins. The linkers were designed based on the attachment sites at two different positions on the phenoxazine, which were chosen in order to study the orientation of the dye with respect to the binding protein. Conjugation of the dyes to the S337C maltose binding protein (MBP) mutant provided conjugates of these dyes that are capable of detecting maltose with different sensitivities. The dye INR gave a 3-fold (+200%) change in fluorescence intensity upon maltose binding when conjugated to S337C MBP with a binding constant (K(d)) of 435 microM. The fluorescence change for IANR was only 20% and the K(d) was 1.4 mM. Conformational analysis of the dyes by molecular modeling suggested that the linker in IANR imparted greater conformational freedom to the dye, resulting in little change in environment between the open and the closed-form conformations. The linker in INR, on the other hand, showed restricted motion, which placed the dye in different environments in the open and closed forms of the protein. Thus, design and placement of the linker play a critical role in the performance of these dyes as environmentally sensitive probes.

The early stage development Studies of novel implantable continuous metabolite sensor systems for glucose, lactate and fatty acids are discussed. These sensors utilize non-enzymatic "reagentless" sensor systems based on NIR fluorophore-labeled binding proteins. For in vivo applications, NIR fluorescence based systems (beyond 600 nm) have the added benefit of reduced interference from background scattering, tissue and serum absorption and cell auto-fluorescence. The long wavelength emission facilitates implanted sensor disks to transmit fluorescence to an external reader through wireless connections and the resulting fluorescence signals can be correlated to metabolite concentrations. We have developed a prototype optical system that uses a bifurcated optical fiber to transmit excitation and read emission at the surface of the skin. With this system, fluorescence signals were read over time through animal skin. The changes in glucose concentration were studied using immobilized sensor proteins and were compared to non-immobilized sensors in solution. For sensors in solution, no response delay was observed. For immobilized systems, the fluorescence response showed a delay corresponding to the diffusion time for the metabolite to equilibrate within the sensor.

BACKGROUNDFluorescent biosensors based on galactose/glucose binding protein (GGBP) and environmentally sensitive derivatives of the phenoxazine dye Nile Red are described. These biosensors are proposed as the sensing platform for a minimally invasive, continuous glucose monitoring system that can be implanted under the skin and read transdermally using an external fluorometer.METHODSTo construct the biosensors, the thiol-reactive Nile Red derivatives INR and IANR were prepared and conjugated to GGBP proteins possessing cysteine mutations that were designed for optimal site-specific fluorophore attachment. The attachment sites were selected to maximize the local environment change for attached dyes between the bound and unbound conformations of GGBP.RESULTSFluorescence responses at the selected cysteine sites of GGBP upon binding to glucose showed that the conjugates typically yielded fluorescence emission around 640-650 nm with up to 50% changes in fluorescence intensity. Conjugate E149C/A213C/L238S INR GGBP also displayed glucose binding in the human physiological range (K (D) = 7.4 mM).CONCLUSIONSThe phenoxazine derivatives fluoresced at longer wavelengths (>600 nm) approaching the near-infrared spectral window, where interference from scattering and tissue absorbance are minimal. Ultimately, we expect that monitoring systems based on GGBP and longwavelength dyes will be implanted for up to 6 months and can be used to transmit information through the skin to an external monitor.

The design and synthesis of an environmentally sensitive long wavelength fluorescing squaraine dye for conjugation to proteins is dsecribed. Environmentally sensitive dyes are valuable for probing environmental changes that occur when labeled proteins bind their corresponding ligands and can be used to construct flyorescent sensors. Long wavelength (>650 nm) dyes would enable through-skin wireless sensing with minimum interference from the background. While several environmentally sensitive dyes are known in the visible spectrum, only a few are available in the long wavelength region, and none of them are available with reactive groups suitable for protein conjugation. Several derivatives of squarain dyes are known to be environmentally sensitive and fluorescent in the long wavelength region, but none of them are available with linkers for protein conjugation. In order to achieve this goal, we developed a synthetic scheme to introduce a reactive linker onto an anilinic squaraine that is highly sensitive to its environment. The synthesis involves the preparation of the dye with an iodoacetyl ester linker that readily reacts with a thiol on a cysteine residue of the binding protein. The squaraine dye was conjugated to known binding proteins that were evaluated as optical sensors. Ultimately, we expect these systems to measure analytes in the body and transmit information through the skin to an external monitor.