• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2017

Estrogens are effective neuroprotectants in vivo and in vitro. To obtain a better insight into the molecular mechanisms of action of neuroprotection by $17{\beta}-estradiol$ (E2), we examined the differential effects of E2 on the fluidity of synaptosomal plasma membrane vesicles (SPMV) isolated from rat cerebral cortex. Intramolecular excimerization of 1,3-di(1-pyrenyl)-propane (Py-3-Py) was used to investigate the effects of E2 on the bulk and annular lateral diffusion of the SPMV. In addition, we examined the effects of E2 on the rotational diffusion of individual leaflet of SPMV exploiting selective quenching of outer monolayer 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) fluorescence by trinitrophenyl groups. The $F{\ddot{o}}rster$ distance $R_0$ value for the tryptophan-Py-3-Py donor-acceptor pair was $26.9{\AA}$. E2 increased the lateral mobility of both bulk and annular lipids in SPMV in a dose-dependent manner, but a larger effect on bulk lipids was observed. Although E2 decreased the anisotropy of DPH in SPMV, E2 had a greater fluidizing effect on the outer leaflet compared to the inner leaflet. These results suggest that E2 selectively fluidizes the more fluid regions within SPMV. It is highly probable that E2 mostly fluidizes the bulk lipids, away from either annular lipids or lipid rafts, in the outer leaflet of SPMV. This selective fluidization may be one of the nongenomic mechanisms of neuroprotection by E2.

• BioChip Journal
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.340-347
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• 2018

$F{\ddot{o}}rster$ resonance energy transfer (FRET) is extremely sensitive to the separation distance between the donor and the acceptor which is ideal for probing such biological phenomena. Also, FRET-based probes have been developing for detecting an unamplified, low-abundance of target DNA. Here we describe the development of FRET based DNA sensor based on an accumulated QD system for detecting KRAS G12D mutation which is the most common mutation in cancer. The accumulated QD system consists of the polystyrene beads which surface is modified with carboxyl modified QDs. The QDs are sandwich-hybridized with DNA of a capture probe, a reporter probe with Texas-red, and a target DNA by EDC-NHS coupling. Because the carboxyl modified QDs are located closely to each other in the accumulated QDs, these neighboring QDs are enough to transfer the energy to the acceptor dyes. Therefore the FRET factor in the bead system is enhancing by the additional increase of 29.2% as compared to that in a single QD system. These results suggest that the accumulated nanobead probe with conjugated QDs can be used as ultrasensitive DNA nanosensors detecting the mutation in the various cancers.

• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.551-558
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• 2001

We extended the measurable time scale of DNA dynamics to submicrosecond using a long-lifetime metal-ligand complex, $[Ru(phen)_2(dppz)]^{2+}$ (phen=1,10-phenanthroline, dppz=dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine) (RuPD), which displays a mean lifetime near 350 ns. We partially characterized the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) in calf thymus DNA from RuPD to nile blue (NB) using frequency-domain fluorometry with a high-intensity, blue light-emitting diode (LED) as the modulated light source. There was a significant overlap of the emission spectrum of the donor RuPD with the absorption spectrum of the acceptor NB. The F$\ddot{o}$rster distance ($R_0$) that was calculated from the spectral overlap was $33.4\;{\AA}$. We observed dramatic decreases in the steady-state fluorescence intensities of RuPD when the NB concentration was increased. The intensity decays of RuPD were matched the closest by a triple exponential decay. The mean decay time of RuPD in the absence of the acceptor NB was 350.7 ns. In a concentration-dependent manner, RuPD showed rapid intensity decay times upon adding NB. The mean decay time decreased to 184.6 ns at $100\;{\mu}M$ NB. The FRET efficiency values that are calculated from the mean decay times increased from 0.107 at $20\;{\mu}M$ NB to 0.474 at $100\;{\mu}M$ NB concentration. The use of FRET with a long-lifetime metal-ligand complex donor is expected to offer the opportunity to increase the information about the structure and dynamics of nucleic acids.