This proposal outlines the design and synthesis of DNA mimicking, resin-bound fluorescent chemosensors to be employed as discrete sensors or in differential receptors (DRs) for metal ions linked to disease and other metabolically active small molecules. The synthesis will employ known DNA synthetic techniques to generate oligomeric nucleic acids combining sequences of glycosidic fluorophors and ligands. This scheme builds upon recently reported library of polyfluors by adding on sensor modules to generate a library of fluorgenic chemosensors. Sequences will be screened for optical responses to a variety of metal ions related to disease. At first, only simple single ion solutions will be used to determine which beads show fluorescence responses. Grouping these active beads together will create arrays capable of analyzing more complex fluids such as serum, saliva, interstitial fluid and spino-cerebral fluid. We anticipate that these chemosensing arrays may be useful in detecting and characterizing metal ion imbalances associated with diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
