[SCAN] Design and Synthesis of new probes for AI-2 quorum-sensing receptors studies

ITQB Scan Seminar

Title: Design and Synthesis of new probes for AI-2 quorum-sensing receptors studies

Speaker: Sofia Miguel

From: Post-Doc at Bioorganic Chemistry Laboratory

Abstract:

During the past few decades, technology has made great improvements to enable visualisation, identification and quantitation in biological systems. In recent years, nanoparticles have become the center of attention of many researchers. The integration of inorganic synthetic methods with techniques to produce nano-sized particles of semiconducting materials has led to the creation of a class of fluorescent optical reporters, called quantum dots (QDs). So far the CdSe/ZnS core-shell QDs are the most used. These nanoparticles possess unique optical and electronic properties, compared to standard organic dyes. Once obtained their water-solubility by attaching synthetic or commercial hydrophilic ligands (e.g. polyethylene glycol derivatives or amphiphilic polymers), they become amenable to conjugation with a variety of biomolecules via simple covalent and non-covalent strategies. 
Among the synthesis, functionalization and bio-conjugation of QDs for different applications, one of the research lines in our group is the design and synthesis of the precursor and a series of analogues of Autoinducer-2 (AI-2), a signalling molecule for bacterial inter-species communication. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that bacteria use to regulate their behaviours can lead, for instance, to the development of new therapies to control bacterial infections. Hence, the synthesis of new different DPD analogues will be presented as well as the design of new strategies to attach DPD and their derivatives to QDs in order to better understand these molecular mechanisms inside bacteria and study AI-2 quorum-sensing receptors.