—Nick Mixon (Mentor: Brittany White-Mathieu)
An activity-based sensing (ABS) reagent is a single molecule that selectively reacts with a target analyte, undergoing a chemical change resulting in fluorescent properties. Analytes of interest include peroxides and iron ions which produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), or free radicals. These ROS cause substantial damage to the cells that make up an organism. Peroxides are capable of degrading cellular membrane function by attacking individual phospholipids within the bilayer, a process implicated in varying forms of cancer and neurodegenerative disease. Using an ABS probe alone results in images that lack the capability to report on membrane morphological changes during ROS mediated cellular degradation. This project seeks to address this issue by designing a synthetic phospholipid capable of chemically anchoring to a sensor. Advances in biorthogonal chemistry have enabled functionalization of biomolecules including lipids, and will be leveraged to localize activity-based sensors at membranes in distinct cellular environments using this multi-faceted approach of lipid and future sensor development.
