Projects per year
Abstract
Fluorescent antimicrobial peptides are promising structures for in situ, real-time imaging of fungal infection. Here we report a fluorogenic probe to image Aspergillus fumigatus directly in human pulmonary tissue. We have developed a fluorogenic Trp-BODIPY amino acid with a spacer-free C-C linkage between Trp and a BODIPY fluorogen, which shows remarkable fluorescence enhancement in hydrophobic microenvironments. The incorporation of our fluorogenic amino acid in short antimicrobial peptides does not impair their selectivity for fungal cells, and enables rapid and direct fungal imaging without any washing steps. We have optimised the stability of our probes in human samples to perform multi-photon imaging of A. fumigatus in ex vivo human tissue. The incorporation of our unique BODIPY fluorogen in biologically-relevant peptides will accelerate the development of novel imaging probes with high sensitivity and specificity.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 10940 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Nature Communications |
Volume | 7 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 9 Mar 2016 |
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Dive into the research topics of 'Spacer-free BODIPY fluorogens in antimicrobial peptides for direct imaging of fungal infection in human tissue'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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ENDOIMAGE - Activatable Fluorescent Probes as Smart Diagnostic Tools for Microendoscopy Imaging
1/08/13 → 31/07/17
Project: Research
Profiles
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Ahsan Akram
- Deanery of Clinical Sciences - Cancer Research UK Clinician Scientist
- Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre - Cancer Research UK Clinician Scientist
- Centre for Inflammation Research
Person: Academic: Research Active (Research Assistant)
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Alan Serrels
- Deanery of Molecular, Genetic and Population Health Sciences - Reader
- Centre for Inflammation Research
- Deanery of Clinical Sciences - Reader
Person: Academic: Research Active , Academic: Research Active (Research Assistant)
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Marc Vendrell Escobar
- Deanery of Clinical Sciences - Personal Chair Translational Chemistry & Biomedical Imaging
- Centre for Inflammation Research
Person: Academic: Research Active