Evolving Trends in Transition Metal-Modified Receptor Design and Function - Designing Receptors for the Next Generation of Biosensors - page 240

Fig. 3 A homogeneous array sensing scheme for the differentiation of tripeptides and their
phosphorylated analogues. The array consists of five unique cross-reactive peptides coupled to
tris-[(2-pyridyl)methyl]amine core ligands, three transition metal ions [Cu(II), Ni(II), Co(II)], and
three indicator dyes totaling 45 indicator displacement assays. Linear discriminant analysis of
optical data from this sensing ensemble resulted in 100% classification of the six target peptides.
Reprinted with permission from [ 19 ]. Copyright 2009 American Chemical Society
may offer a more streamlined approach to screening specific kinase activity as it is
not reliant on different selective receptors for each phosphorylated enzyme
substrate.
Overall, this study highlights the utility of transition metal-modified receptor
libraries biased toward a specific class of analytes as differential arrays for finger-
printing purposes. The receptor design strategy employs a single metal complex as
both scaffold and analyte recognition element. This general approach should be
broadly applicable to a range of bioanalytes and serve as a useful alternative to
traditional, high affinity chemoselective sensing systems.
3 Functional Allosteric Supramolecular Receptors
The development of functional supramolecular coordination complexes has also
been greatly influenced by biomimetic design principles over the past few decades.
For instance, allosteric modulation of protein function is fundamental to many
biological processes and occurs through binding of an effector, or regulatory
molecule, to a protein site structurally distinct from the active site. Effector binding
induces a conformational change in the protein that indirectly influences active site
function. Effectors can either enhance or decrease the binding or catalytic effi-
ciency of proteins, thus behaving as molecular “ON/OFF” switches. Inspired by
such systems, chemists have recently evolved a number of strategies for endowing
supramolecular systems with allosteric regulation [ 23 , 24 ]. The overarching goal in
this area is to develop abiotic synthetic systems that manifest the molecular
recognition and catalytic properties of highly evolved natural proteins and
enzymes.