Neurotransmitter Sensors  |   Cooperativity in Molecular Recognition  |  Lipid Sensors

Cooperativity in Molecular Recognition

We have endeavored to introduce a new paradigm in chemical sensing by exploiting the concept of cooperativity to provide the affinity and selectivity necessary for preparing biologically useful sensors. Cooperative interactions can occur when the sensor binds to multiple analytes with increasing affinity for each analyte. Cooperativity has not previously been applied to chemical sensing. Furthermore, none of the known cooperative receptors are amenable to a general chemical sensor platform. Therefore, we have designed and developed a synthetic strategy for a novel framework for cooperative recognition, termed a "pinwheel receptor." The receptor was designed in such a way to make it generally applicable to a variety of analytes. We have shown in a simple metal binding assay that cooperative recognition gives an increased affinity for an analyte compared to a similar non-cooperative receptor. This effect has proven to be general for all of the analytes we have tested thus far. Subsequently, we introduced a modified sensor framework in which a fluorescent read-out system is integrated directly into the sensor framework in order to further extend the generality of the sensor design. Thus, any analyte which is bound cooperatively by the sensor will activate a fluorescent response.