Fluorescence detecting glycopeptide antibiotics via a dynamic molecular switch

Glycopeptide antibiotics (GPAs) represented by vancomycin (VAN) are clinically used as a first-line treatment for serious infections caused by Gram-positive pathogens. The use and dosing methods of GPAs are rigorously managed for safety considerations, which calls for fast and accurate quantification approaches.

A new sort of fluorescent probes for GPAs has been proposed, each of which was integrated by a fluorescein-based reporter and a GPAs' recognition peptide D-alanyl-D-alanine (D-Ala-D-Ala). These probes work as dynamic molecular switches, which mainly exist as non-fluorescent spirolactam forms in the absence of GPAs. GPAs binding with the dipeptide regulates the dynamic balance between fluorescence OFF lactam form and fluorescence ON ring-opened form, rendering these probes capable of GPAs detecting. The most promising one P1 exhibits excellent sensitivity and selectivity towards GPAs detection.

Different to previous developments, P1 consists of a single fluorophore without the need of a fluorescence-quenching group or a secondary dye, which is the smallest fluorescent probe for GPAs up to now. P1 realizes direct VAN quantification from complex biological samples including real serums, dispensing with additional drug extraction. More interestingly, both P1 and P6 can distinguish GPAs with different peptide backbones, which has not been achieved previously.