Carnegie Mellon University

Lauren A Ernst

Alan S Waggoner

Ratnakar B Mujumdar

Marcel Pierre Bruchez

Brigitte F Schmidt

James Fitzpatrick

Chris Szent-Gyorgyi

The present invention presents designs for high extinction quenched 'dyedrons' that can be activated by conversion of a single acceptor/quencher in the molecular assembly to a fluorescent state. The quencher is activated by noncovalent binding to a unique complementary expressible fluorogen activating peptide (FAP). In this way, the quencher serves as the homogeneous switch, receiving energy efficiently from each of the donor molecules of the dendronic antenna, and releasing it as fluorescence only when activated by binding. The sum of the extinction of the multiple dyes on the antenna will provide dramatic enhancements in the effective brightness of the probe in standard imaging systems. This approach provides a set of probes with exceptional brightness, specifically targeted to an expressed tag that activates the fluorescence of the dyedron.

Quenched dendrimeric dyes for florescence detection

A method for detecting a component of an aqueous liquid comprising adding to the liquid a luminescent dye selected from the group consisting of cyanine, merocyanine and styryl dyes containing at least one sulfonic acid or sulfonate group attached to an aromatic nucleus and reacting the dye with the component. The labeled component is then detected by an optical detection method.

Method for labeling and detecting materials employing arylsulfonate

A luminescent cyanine dye having generally the following structure ##STR1## wherein the dotted lines represent one to three rings having 5 to 6 atoms in each ring. R.sub.3, R.sub.4, R.sub.8 and R.sub.9 groups are attached to the rings. At least one of the R.sub.8 and R.sub.9 groups is a sulfonic acid or sulfonate group and at least one of the R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, R.sub.4 and R.sub.7 groups is a reactive moiety that reacts with amino, hydroxy or sulfhydryl nucleophiles.

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Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America

Lauren A Ernst