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Synthesis of Wavelength-shifting DNA Hybridization Probes by Using Photostable Cyanine Dyes
Published on: July 6, 2016
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Targetable Conformationally Restricted Cyanines Enable Photon-Count-Limited Applications*.
Patrick Eiring1, Ryan McLaughlin2, Siddharth S Matikonda2
1Department of Biotechnology and Biophysics Biocenter, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)
|October 4, 2021
Summary
Restricting cyanine dye structure enhances fluorescence, improving imaging. New sulfonated dyes efficiently label biomolecules, boosting performance in applications like FRET and microscopy.
Area of Science:
- Bioconjugation Chemistry
- Fluorescence Imaging
- Spectroscopy
Background:
- Cyanine dyes are vital fluorescent probes but suffer from photoisomerization, limiting their photon output.
- Previous work showed appending ring systems to pentamethine cyanine improves quantum yield and fluorescence lifetime.
- Photoisomerization remains a key challenge for cyanine dye applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and synthesize persulfonated cyanine variants with improved optical properties.
- To enable efficient labeling of nucleic acids and proteins using these new dyes.
- To evaluate the performance of conformationally restricted cyanines in various advanced imaging techniques.
Main Methods:
- Optimized synthesis of persulfonated cyanine dyes.
- Bifunctional sulfonated tertiary amide conjugation for bioconjugation.
- Application testing in DNA-nanoantennas, single-molecule FRET, FLIM, and SMLM.
Main Results:
- The new conformationally restricted cyanines exhibit significantly improved optical properties.
- Efficient labeling of nucleic acids and proteins was achieved.
- Enhanced imaging performance was observed in FRET, FLIM, and SMLM applications.
Conclusions:
- Eliminating cyanine isomerization through structural restriction offers substantial benefits for imaging performance.
- Persulfonated, conformationally restricted cyanine dyes are superior probes for advanced biological imaging.
- These findings pave the way for more sensitive and reliable fluorescence-based assays.

