Supramolecular fluorescence sensor array based on calixarenes for discrimination of nucleotides and their phosphate derivatives

ABSTRACT

Nucleotides and their derivatives are vital biomarkers that play essential roles in biochemical reactions and influence processes of metabolism and anabolism. However, discriminating between various structurally similar nucleotides and their phosphate derivatives using convenient means still poses a challenge. Here, we designed a supramolecular fluorescence sensor array constructed with four different calixarenes loaded with dyes to discriminate between nucleotides and their phosphate derivatives. Based on the differences in the ability of calixarenes to recognise various nucleotides and nucleotide phosphates, a unique fluorescence response pattern is generated for each analyte. With the assistance of linear discriminant analysis, the discrimination of target analytes is effectively achieved. Subsequent assays involving various concentrations of nucleoside triphosphates and mixtures of nucleotide phosphates have also verified the potential of this sensor array based on calixarenes in the investigation of nucleotides.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Supramolecular chemistry
• differential sensing
• calixarenes
• nucleotides
• indicator displacement assay

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NSFC (22101142 and U20A20259), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Component-based Chinese Medicine (Grant No. CBCM2022106), Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10610278.2023.2283423.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities National Natural Science Foundation of China [22101142]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [U20A20259]; Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Component-based Chinese Medicine [CBCM2022106].