Protein Discrimination Using a Fluorescence-Based Sensor Array of Thiacarbocyanine-GUMBOS

Abstract

Sensitive and selective detection of proteins from complex samples has gained substantial interest within the scientific community. Early and precise detection of key proteins plays an important role in potential clinical diagnosis, treatment of different diseases, and proteomic research. In the study reported here, six different compounds belonging to a group of uniform materials based on organic salts (GUMBOS) have been synthesized using three thiacarbocyanine (TC) dyes and employed as fluorescent sensors. Fluorescence properties of micro- and nanoaggregates of these TC-based GUMBOS formed in phosphate buffer solutions are studied in the absence and presence of seven proteins. Fluorescence response patterns of these TC-based GUMBOS were analyzed by linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The constructed LDA model allowed discrimination of these seven proteins at various concentrations with 100% accuracy. The sensing and discrimination abilities of these TC-based GUMBOS were further evaluated in mixtures of two major proteins, i.e., human serum albumin and hemoglobin. Fluorescence response patterns of these mixtures were analyzed by LDA. This model allowed discrimination of various mixtures with 100% accuracy. Moreover, spiked urine samples were prepared and the responses of these sensors were collected and analyzed by LDA. Remarkably, discrimination of these seven proteins was also achieved with 100% accuracy.

Lanthanide Metal–Organic Framework-Based Fluorescent Sensor Arrays to Discriminate and Quantify Ingredients of Natural Medicine

“…Abbasi-Moayed and co-workers have established a nanopaper-based ratiometric fluorescent sensor array using nanohybrids for the discrimination of heavy metal ions by RGB analysis . Pérez et al have reported a thiacarbocyanine dye-based sensor array for the discrimination of proteins at various concentrations . Although fluorescent sensor arrays have been widely used to detect and discriminate the heavy metal ions, phosphates, toxic gases, and other chemicals, , their application to identify active/toxic ingredients in herbal medicines has only been limited to a single species to date .…”

Group of Uniform Materials Based on Organic Salts (GUMBOS): A Review of Their Solid State Properties and Applications

“…Biosensing of mixtures of biomarkers and/or proteins is of particular interest for disease diagnosis and treatment [181][182][183]. Many current methods, such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) coupled to mass spectrometry, require expensive resources and labor intensive steps [183][184][185]. Organic salts are of increasing interest for development of fluorescent sensor arrays for protein detection and discrimination as they are easily tunable for increasing hydrophobicity, traditionally more stable upon ion exchange, and require little resources for purification [90].…”

Understanding of Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) in Ionic Materials

“…To acquire high FRET efficiency between ERD dye and acceptor photosensitizer, a new class of compound, ionic materials (IMs), is presented in this work. IMs are tunable ionic salts that share properties of ionic liquids but are solid at room temperature [21][22][23]. IMs are ideal for several applications due to their enhanced photo and thermal stability, fluorescence quantum yields, and electrochemical characteristics [10,24,25].…”

“…IMs are tunable ionic salts that share properties of ionic liquids but are solid at room temperature [ 21 - 23 ]. IMs are ideal for several applications due to their enhanced photo and thermal stability, fluorescence quantum yields, and electrochemical characteristics [ 10 , 24 , 25 ].…”