A Fluorescent Cage for Supramolecular Sensing of 3‐Nitrotyrosine in Human Blood Serum

Molecular cage can detect kidney disease biomarker

31 March 2023

A molecular cage that stops fluorescing when it traps a biomarker for chronic kidney disease is promising for detecting the condition.

Chronic kidney disease involves the gradual loss of kidney function over time, and it can eventually lead to complete kidney failure. Early detection and treatment can help slow its progression, but it is difficult to pick up in its early stages.

The biomarker currently used to detect chronic kidney failure doesn’t always reflect kidney function, and hence there is a need for alternative biomarkers. A promising one is 3-nitrotyrosine since high levels in the blood indicate renal damage.

Now, a team that included a researcher from the University of La Laguna on Tenerife, Spain, has demonstrated that a fluorescent molecular cage can be used to detect levels of 3-nitrotyrosine in the blood.

Since its fluorescence is extinguished when 3-nitrotyrosine is trapped in the cage, just measuring the light it emits indicates the level of 3-nitrotyrosine in the blood.

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References

1. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 28, e202205403 (2022). doi: 10.1002/anie.202205403