There is a strong need to better diagnose infections at deep body sites through noninvasive molecular imaging methods. Herein, we describe the synthesis and characterization of probes based on siderophore conjugates with catechol moieties and a central DOTAM scaffold. The probes can accommodate a metal ion as well as an antibiotic moiety and are therefore suited for theranostic purposes. The translocation of the conjugates across the outer and inner cell membranes of E. coli was confirmed by growth recovery experiments with enterobactin-deficient strains, by the antibacterial activity of ampicillin conjugates, and by confocal imaging using a fluorogen-activating protein-malachite green system adapted to E. coli. The suitability of the probes for in vivo imaging was demonstrated with a Cy5.5 conjugate in mice infected with P. aeruginosa.

Basement membranes (BMs) evolved together with the first metazoan species approximately 500 million years ago. Main functions of BMs are stabilizing epithelial cell layers and connecting different types of tissues to functional, multicellular organisms. Mutations of BM proteins from worms to humans are either embryonic lethal or result in severe diseases, including muscular dystrophy, blindness, deafness, kidney defects, cardio-vascular abnormalities or retinal and cortical malformations. In vivo-derived BMs are difficult to come by; they are very thin and sticky and, therefore, difficult to handle and probe. In addition, BMs are difficult to solubilize complicating their biochemical analysis. For these reasons, most of our knowledge of BM biology is based on studies of the BM-like extracellular matrix (ECM) of mouse yolk sac tumors or from studies of the lens capsule, an unusually thick BM. Recently, isolation procedures for a variety of BMs have been described, and new techniques have been developed to directly analyze the protein compositions, the biomechanical properties and the biological functions of BMs. New findings show that native BMs consist of approximately 20 proteins. BMs are four times thicker than previously recorded, and proteoglycans are mainly responsible to determine the thickness of BMs by binding large quantities of water to the matrix. The mechanical stiffness of BMs is similar to that of articular cartilage. In mice with mutation of BM proteins, the stiffness of BMs is often reduced. As a consequence, these BMs rupture due to mechanical instability explaining many of the pathological phenotypes. Finally, the morphology and protein composition of human BMs changes with age, thus BMs are dynamic in their structure, composition and biomechanical properties.

A series of novel helical poly(phenylacetylene)s bearing amino-functionalized cinchona alkaloid pendant groups connecting to the phenyl rings through an amide linkage were prepared by the polymerization of the corresponding phenylacetylenes using a rhodium catalyst. All of the polymers formed a preferred-handed helical conformation biased by the optically active pendants, resulting in the induced circular dichroism in their π-conjugated polymer backbone regions. The optically active helical polymers efficiently catalyzed the asymmetric Henry reaction of benzaldehydes with nitromethane, giving optically active products up to 94% enantiomeric excess (ee) when the poly(phenylacetylene) bearing an amino-functionalized quinine pendant group was used as the polymeric organocatalyst; the enantioselectivity was remarkably higher than those catalyzed by the corresponding nonhelical poly(phenylacetylene) (18% ee) and the monomer (28% ee).

Novel NTR triggered fluorescence turn-on probe for diagnosing ESKAPE pathogens.