(PQA4) Detecting carcinogens in complex environments via energy transfer

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案的总体目标是开发一种新的致癌化合物传感器，使用市售的无毒大环γ -环糊精。环糊精会将致癌物与明亮的荧光小分子染料结合在其内腔中。一旦这两个分子在腔内结合，它们就会离得足够近，因此激发致癌物会导致能量转移，并从染料中发出明亮的荧光。与以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)在存在其他化合物的情况下对致癌物具有高选择性；(b)灵敏度高，可检测低浓度致癌物；(c)易于调节，可以通过添加不同的染料来调节荧光发射信号；(d)在一系列复杂的环境条件下，不同种类的致癌物具有高度的通用性。这一建议的生物医学意义是明确的：准确评估个体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.