Periodic Reporting for period 3 - TryptoBoost (Boosting tryptophan fluorescence with optical nanoantennas to watch label-free protein dynamics with single molecule resolution at high concentration)
Período documentado: 2020-10-01 hasta 2022-03-31
The TryptoBoost project aims to overcome all the previous challenges, and efficiently monitor single label-free proteins using their intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence enhanced by optical nanoantennas in the ultraviolet. Using the natural amino acid fluorescence rules out all drawbacks due to external labeling, while the optical nanostructures enable single protein analysis at the physiologically relevant micromolar concentrations thanks to the localization and enhancement of light-matter interactions at the nanoscale.
More than 90% of all the 40,000 human proteins contain some aromatic amino acids which are fluorescent in the ultraviolet. The project breakthroughs exploring the UV autofluorescence of proteins without any external lable will benefit a broad range of biophysical, chemical, and medical applications. For instance, it will improve the development of therapeutic drugs, increase the detection sensitivity and read-out speed in analytical biosensing on chip, and provide new nanostructures to enhance ultraviolet photocatalysis.