Invited
Molecules that generate ‘fingerprints’: A new class of fluorescent probes for medical diagnosis and chemical biology

Our group has recently developed a new class of molecular sensors, termed ‘combinatorial fluorescent molecular sensors’, which mimic the function of cross-reactive sensor arrays (the so-called chemical “noses/tongues”).^1-5 In this talk I will explain how these pattern-generating probes could expand the fluorescent toolbox currently used to detect and image proteins. Specifically, I will show how such systems can be used to identify combinations of specific protein families within complex mixtures and to discriminate among isoforms in living cells, where macroscopic arrays cannot access.⁴ The way by which these molecule-size ‘noses’ can be used to track several binding interactions simultaneously and be generated by self-assembly⁵ will also be discussed.

References:

(1) Rout, B.; Unger, L.; Armony, G.; Iron, M. A.; Margulies, D. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 21, 12477.

(2) Sarker, T.; Selvakumar, K.; Motiei, L.; Margulies, D. Nature Commun. 2016, 7, 11374-11382.

(3) Hatai J., Motiei L., Margulies D. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 2136–2139.

(4) Pode, Z.; Peri-Naor, R.; Georgeson, J. M.; Ilani, T.; Kiss, V.; Unger, L.; Markus, B.; HM, B.; Motiei, L.; Margulies, D. Nature Nanotechnol. 2017, 12, 1161.

(5) Lustgarten, O.; Carmieli, R,; Motiei, L.; Margulies, D. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, in press.