NSF Award
2305013
With support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry and partial co-funding from the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, Professor Takashi Ito and his group at Kansas State University aims to create fundamental knowledge required to develop new measurement tools for medical diagnostics and fundamental biochemical studies, in collaboration with Professor Amar Flood and his group at Indiana University, Bloomington. This collaborative project aims to develop novel fluorescent molecules for highly sensitive detection of oxidation-reduction processes, to examine single molecule measurement techniques for quantification of electrode reaction kinetics, and to establish a highly sensitive and precise biosensing method. In depth understanding of electrode reaction processes at the single molecule level has the potential to provide valuable information to facilitate improving the performance of electrochemical biosensors and opto-electronic devices. In the course of these studies, research topics will be integrated into educational activities via new lab experiments that meet American Chemical Society accreditation requirements for BS degrees. Efforts to broaden participation in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines include a multidisciplinary research symposium targeting students and professors at primarily undergraduate institutions.<br/><br/>This collaborative project seeks fundamental insights needed to develop highly sensitive and precise multiplexed biosensors. Specifically, the team seeks to design and synthesize small fluorescent molecules that exhibit reversible ON-OFF switching upon oxidation/reduction (electroswitchable fluorophores) and are suitable for covalent conjugation. In sample applications, potential modulation will be used for fluorescence quantification of the electrode reaction kinetics of single electroswitchable fluorophores tethered to DNA probes, with an aim of improved understanding of the relationship between the single-molecule electrode reaction kinetics and the performance of folding-based DNA sensors. An ultimate aim is calibration-free single-molecule DNA sensing which, if successful, would constitute a significant achievement and have broad scientific impact well beyond these studies.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
