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Rational design and implementation of a cucurbit[8]uril-based indicator-displacement assay for application in blood
Stephan Sinn1, Eduard Spuling2, Stefan Bräse2,3
1Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) , Institute of Nanotechnology (INT) , Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1 , 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen , Germany .
Abstract:
In this study, we report the first supramolecular indicator-displacement assay (IDA) based on cucurbit[n]uril (CBn) hosts that is operational in blood serum. Rational design principles for host-guest chemosensing in competitively binding media were derived through detailed mathematical simulations. It was shown that currently known CBn-based chemosensing ensembles are not suited for use in highly competitive matrices such as blood serum. Conversely, the simulations indicated that a combination of cucurbit[8]uril (CB8) and an ultra-high affinity dye would be a promising IDA reporter pair for the detection of Alzheimer's drug memantine in blood serum. Therefore, a novel class of [2.2]paracyclophane-derived indicator dyes for the host CB8 was developed that possesses one of the highest host-guest affinities (K a > 1012 M-1 in water) known in supramolecular host-guest chemistry, and which provides a large Stokes shift (up to 200 nm). The novel IDA was then tested for the detection of memantine in blood serum in a physiologically relevant sub- to low micromolar concentration range.
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