Fluorescent and Dichroic Probes: Development of Bioanalytical Methodologies

Abstract

Those who work in research and development in the biomedical area are constantly faced with the need to search for the appropriate fluorescent marker for the cellular process under study. Cell signaling pathway markers, probes for membrane potential in mitochondria, labeled nucleotides, probes for reactive oxygen species, are some examples of a growing universe of fluorescent probes conjugated or not with antibodies, plasmids, etc., which can be searched for in commercial catalogs. This project fits into this field, as it proposes the synthesis and development of new applications involving fluorescent molecules. As this is a Projeto de Auxílio Regular whose objective is to seek resources to continue developing this line of research in the group I coordinate, we will present the subprojects that will benefit. i) Synthesis and studies of aminoquinolines. We will use this class of compounds for three purposes, namely: probe to detect the enzymatic activity of the enzyme myeloperoxidase, probe to determine electrical charge in micelles and probe for DNA. ii) Synthesis and study of fluorescent azapentalenes to determine the formation of amyloid aggregates. iii) Application of fluorescent coumarins to study binding sites in albumin by quenching via photoinduced electron transfer (PET). iv) Solvatochromic studies with the laser probe 4-(dicyanodomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran DCM) to determine the dielectric constant inside the protein and detect amyloid aggregates. v) Probes sensitive to induced circular dichroism. It involves the induction of chirality in achiral molecules through their interaction with chiral microenvironments (inside proteins, for example). Specifically, we will use biphenyl compounds as xanthene dyes. As will be demonstrated in the project, these are lines that we have studied over the last few years and that have already brought significant results. For the subprojects described, we have pilot studies that indicate their feasibility, as will be presented. (AU)