(PQA4) Detecting carcinogens in complex environments via energy transfer

描述（由申请人提供）：该提案的主要目标是使用市售无毒大环化合物γ-环糊精开发一种新的致癌化合物传感器。环糊精将在其内腔中结合致癌物质，以及明亮的荧光小分子染料。一旦两个分子在空腔中结合，它们将足够接近，从而激发致癌物质将导致能量转移到染料并从染料发出明亮的荧光。与先前开发的传感器相比，本文提出的传感器具有许多优点，包括：（a）在其它化合物存在下对致癌物的高选择性;（B）高灵敏度，这将使得能够检测低浓度的致癌物;（c）易于调谐，这将使得能够通过添加不同染料来调谐荧光发射信号;（d）在一系列复杂的环境条件下，不同类别的致癌物具有高度的普遍性。这一建议的生物医学意义是明确的：准确评估个人对小分子致癌物的暴露水平将有助于科学家确定患者患癌症的风险。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The broad goal of this proposal is to develop a new sensor for carcinogenic compounds, using a commercially available, non-toxic macrocycle, gamma-cyclodextrin. The cyclodextrin will bind carcinogens in its interior cavity, together with a brightly fluorescent small-molecule dye. Once the two molecules are bound in the cavity, they will be close enough so that exciting the carcinogen will result in energy transfer to and bright fluorescent emission from the dye. The sensor proposed herein has a number of advantages compared to previously- developed sensors, including: (a) high selectivity for carcinogens in the presence of other compounds; (b) high sensitivity that will enable the detection of carcinogens at low concentrations; (c) ease of tunability that will enable the tuning of the fluorescent emission signal by adding different dyes; and (d) high generality for different classes of carcinogens under a range of complex environmental conditions. The biomedical relevance of this proposal is clear: accurately assessing individuals' exposure levels to small-molecule carcinogens will aid scientists in determining patient's risk of developing cancer.