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Analytical chemistry

A dendritic signal amplifier

Nature Chemistry volume 1, pages 527–528 (2009)Cite this article

Exponential signal amplification is achieved when a single molecule of analyte initiates a chain reaction in which a dendrimer releases a coloured 'reporter' molecule, and ultimately four further molecules of the analyte.

New analytical techniques require the ability to detect trace amounts of a wide variety of analytes with both high selectivity and sensitivity. Immunoassays based on antibodies achieve excellent selectivities when detecting important analytes of biological origin, such as allergens, hormones or antibodies1. Such assays are not unusual to us and are found in everyday life — the most common being a pregnancy test, which detects the presence of a diagnostic hormone.

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Figure 1: DCR exponentially amplifies the signal produced in response to an analyte.

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Affiliations

  1. Magdalena A. Swiderska and Jean-Louis Reymond are in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Berne, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Berne, Switzerland.

    Magdalena A. Swiderska & Jean-Louis Reymond

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  1. Magdalena A. Swiderska
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  2. Jean-Louis Reymond
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Correspondence to Jean-Louis Reymond.

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Swiderska, M., Reymond, JL. A dendritic signal amplifier. Nature Chem 1, 527–528 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.385

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