Terbium-Macrocycle Complexes as Chemical Sensors: Detection of an Aspirin Metabolite in Urine Using a Salicylurate-Specific Receptor Site

The Puzzle of Aspirin and Iron Deficiency: The Vital Missing Link of the Iron-Chelating Metabolites

Acetylsalicylic acid or aspirin is the most commonly used drug in the world and is taken daily by millions of people. There is increasing evidence that chronic administration of low-dose aspirin of about 75-100 mg/day can cause iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) in the absence of major gastric bleeding; this is found in a large number of about 20% otherwise healthy elderly (>65 years) individuals. The mechanisms of the cause of IDA in this category of individuals are still largely unknown. Evidence is presented suggesting that a likely cause of IDA in this category of aspirin users is the chelation activity and increased excretion of iron caused by aspirin chelating metabolites (ACMs). It is estimated that 90% of oral aspirin is metabolized into about 70% of the ACMs salicyluric acid, salicylic acid, 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, and 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid. All ACMs have a high affinity for binding iron and ability to mobilize iron from different iron pools, causing an overall net increase in iron excretion and altering iron balance. Interestingly, 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid has been previously tested in iron-loaded thalassaemia patients, leading to substantial increases in iron excretion. The daily administration of low-dose aspirin for long-term periods is likely to enhance the overall iron excretion in small increments each time due to the combined iron mobilization effect of the ACM. In particular, IDA is likely to occur mainly in populations such as elderly vegetarian adults with meals low in iron content. Furthermore, IDA may be exacerbated by the combinations of ACM with other dietary components, which can prevent iron absorption and enhance iron excretion. Overall, aspirin is acting as a chelating pro-drug similar to dexrazoxane, and the ACM as combination chelation therapy. Iron balance, pharmacological, and other studies on the interaction of iron and aspirin, as well as ACM, are likely to shed more light on the mechanism of IDA. Similar mechanisms of iron chelation through ACM may also be implicated in patient improvements observed in cancer, neurodegenerative, and other disease categories when treated long-term with daily aspirin. In particular, the role of aspirin and ACM in iron metabolism and free radical pathology includes ferroptosis, and may identify other missing links in the therapeutic effects of aspirin in many more diseases. It is suggested that aspirin is the first non-chelating drug described to cause IDA through its ACM metabolites. The therapeutic, pharmacological, toxicological and other implications of aspirin are incomplete without taking into consideration the iron binding and other effects of the ACM.

Quantitative and Fast Sterility Assurance Testing of Surfaces by Enumeration of Germinable Endospores

A fast Endospore Germinability Assay (EGA) was validated with traditional plate counts to enumerate single endospore germination events for monitoring surface sterilization. The assay is based on a time-gated luminescence microscopy technique enabling visualization and enumeration of individual germinating endospores. Germinating endospores release calcium dipicolinate to form highly luminescent terbium dipicolinate complexes surrounding each germinating endospore. EGA and heterotrophic plate counting (HPC) were used to evaluate the swab/rinse recovery efficiency of endospores from stainless steel surfaces. EGA and HPC results were highly correlated for endospore recovery from stainless steel coupons inoculated with range of 1,000 endospores per coupon down to sterility. Dosage-dependent decrease of surface endospore germinability were observed in dry heat, UV irradiation, oxygen plasma and vaporized hydrogen peroxide treatments, measured with EGA and HPC. EGA is a fast and complementary method to traditional HPC for quantitative sterility assurance testing of surfaces. This work introduces and validates a 15-minute or faster assay for germinable endospores to complement the conventional lengthy, culture-based surface sterility validation, which is critical in hospitals, food and pharmaceutical industries to help minimize nosocomial infection, food spoilage, and pharmaceutical contamination.

Time-Resolved Terbium-Based Probe for the Detection of Zinc(II) Ions: Investigation of the Formation of a Luminescent Ternary Complex

Because of their unique photochemical and photophysical properties, luminescent lanthanide-based complexes have long captivated chemists. In recent years, the number of reports of luminescent lanthanide complex-based probes for monitoring of biological and environmental processes has dramatically increased, namely, because of their selectivity for particular analytes, lower limits of detection, and the fact that they allow monitoring of analytes in real time. Lanthanide-based probes need to be paired with an appropriate antenna/sensitizer to allow maximum energy transfer, with the antenna typically covalently attached to the stable lanthanide chelate. We have recently investigated "dark" lanthanide-based probes where the sensitizer is not covalently linked to the lanthanide chelate. Herein we report the use of a luminescent lanthanide-based probe system for the detection of Zn²⁺ ions based on the formation of a ternary complex between a "dark" terbium complex, lumazine, and Zn²⁺. The terbium(III)-based probe incorporates a 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-triacetic acid macrocyclic chelator covalently attached to a cyclen moiety, which is the Zn²⁺ ion binding group. In the presence of Zn²⁺ ions and lumazine (a strongly UV-absorbing sensitizer), a 1:1:1 ternary complex forms. The resulting complex is highly luminescent and selective for Zn²⁺ ions over other cations of environmental significance. Furthermore, with a limit of detection of 1.2 μM, this probe can detect the level of chronic zinc(II) concentrations denoted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Terbium(III) Luminescence-Based Assay for Esterase Activity

Esterases catalyze the hydrolysis of esters to form a carboxylic acid and alcohol. These enzymes play a key role in both the detoxification of xenobiotic compounds and the metabolism of drugs and prodrugs. Numerous fluorogenic probes have been developed to monitor esterase activity. Most are based on an aromatic alcohol, and the others are based on an aromatic acid. These restrictions leave unexplored the specificity of esterases for aliphatic esters. Here, we report on the use of esters of thiopheneacetic acid coupled with the luminescence of terbium(III) as the basis for a continuous assay of esterase activity. This probe allows for a wide variation of the alcohol moiety and the detection of its hydrolysis at submicromolar concentrations. The assay verifies steady-state kinetic parameters for catalysis by pig liver esterase from either initial rates or the integration of progress curves, and its utility is evident with unpurified esterases in bacterial and human cell lysates.

Dinuclear Lanthanide(III)-m-ODO2A-dimer Macrocyclic Complexes: Solution Speciation, DFT Calculations, Luminescence Properties, and Promoted Nitrophenyl-Phosphate Hydrolysis Rates

Potentiometric speciation studies, mass spectrometry, and DFT calculations helped to predict the various structural possibilities of the dinuclear trivalent lanthanide ion (Ln^III , Ln=La, Eu, Tb, Yb, Y) complexes of a novel macrocyclic ligand, m-ODO2A-dimer (H₄ L), to correlate with their luminescence properties and the promoted BNPP and HPNP phosphodiester bond hydrolysis reaction rates. The stability constants of the dinuclear Ln₂ (m-ODO2A-dimer) complexes and various hydrolytic species confirmed by mass spectrometry were determined. DFT calculations revealed that the Y₂ LH_-1 and the Y₂ LH_-2 species tended to form structures with the respective closed- and open-form conformations. Luminescence lifetime data for the heterodimetallic TbEuL system confirmed the fluorescence resonance energy transfer from the Tb^III to Eu^III ion. The internuclear distance R_TbEu values were estimated to be in the range of 9.4-11.3 Å (pH 6.7-10.6), which were comparable to those of the DFT calculated open-form conformations. Multiple linear regression analysis of the k_obs data was performed using the equation: k_obs,corr. =k_obs -k_obs,OH =kLn2LHM->1 [Ln₂ LH_-1 ]+kLn2LH-2 [Ln₂ LH_-2 ] for the observed Ln₂ L-promoted BNPP/HPNP hydrolysis reactions in solution pH from 7 to 10.5 (Ln=Eu, Yb). The results showed that the second-order rate constants for the Eu₂ LH_-2 and Yb₂ LH_-2 species were about 50-400 times more reactive than the structural analogous Zn₂ (m-12 N₃ O-dimer) system.

Cucurbit[7]uril complexations of Good's buffers

Cucurbit[7]uril forms host–guest complexes with “Good's” and related biological pH buffers of varying stability in aqueous solution.

Two series of novel 3D potentially porous heterometallic Cu–Ln coordination frameworks assembled by 3,4-pyridinedicarboxylic acid with different topologies and channels: syntheses, structures, luminescence and magnetic properties

Two series of heterometallic Cu–Ln coordination frameworks assembled by 3,4-pyridinedicarboxylic acid with different topologies and channels.

Reticular three-dimensional 3d–4f frameworks constructed through substituted imidazole-dicarboxylate: syntheses, luminescence and magnetic properties study

Series of heteronuclear metal organic frameworks (HMOF) combination of lanthanide and Zn/Co ions based on a rigid substituted imidazoledicarboxylic acid ligand have been successfully isolated and characterized systematically.

Enhancement of anion binding in lanthanide optical sensors

In the design of molecular sensors, researchers exploit binding interactions that are usually defined in terms of topology and charge complementarity. The formation of complementary arrays of highly cooperative, noncovalent bonding networks facilitates protein-ligand binding, leading to motifs such as the "lock-and-key". Synthetic molecular sensors often employ metal complexes as key design elements as a way to construct a binding site with the desired shape and charge to achieve target selectivity. In transition metal complexes, coordination number, structure and ligand dynamics are governed primarily by a combination of inner-sphere covalent and outer-sphere noncovalent interactions. These interactions provide a rich variable space that researchers can use to tune structure, stability, and dynamics. In contrast, lanthanide(III)-ligand complex formation and ligand-exchange dynamics are dominated by reversible electrostatic and steric interactions, because the unfilled f shell is shielded by the larger, filled d shell. Luminescent lanthanides such as terbium, europium, dysprosium, and samarium display many photophysical properties that make them excellent candidates for molecular sensor applications. Complexes of lanthanide ions act as receptors that exhibit a detectable change in metal-based luminescence upon binding of an anion. In our work on sensors for detection of dipicolinate, the unique biomarker of bacterial spores, we discovered that the incorporation of an ancillary ligand (AL) can enhance binding constants of target anions to lanthanide ions by as much as two orders of magnitude. In this Account, we show that selected ALs in lanthanide/anion systems greatly improve sensor performance for medical, planetary science, and biodefense applications. We suggest that the observed anion binding enhancement could result from an AL-induced increase in positive charge at the lanthanide ion binding site. This effect depends on lanthanide polarizability, which can be established from the ionization energy of Ln(3+) → Ln(4+). These results account for the order Tb(3+) > Dy(3+) > Eu(3+) ≈ Sm(3+). As with many lanthanide properties, ranging from hydration enthalpy to vaporization energy, this AL-induced enhancement shows a large discrepancy between Tb(3+) and Eu(3+) despite their similarity in size, a phenomenon known as the "gadolinium break". This discrepancy, based on the unusual stabilities of the Eu(2+) and Tb(4+) oxidation states, results from the half-shell effect, as both of these ions have half-filled 4f-shells. The high polarizability of Tb(3+) explains the extraordinarily large increase in the binding affinity of anions for terbium compared to other lanthanides. We recommend that researchers consider this AL-induced enhancement when designing lanthanide-macrocycle optical sensors. Ancillary ligands also can reduce the impact of interfering species such as phosphate commonly found in environmental and physiological samples.

Chromogenic and fluorogenic chemosensors and reagents for anions. A comprehensive review of the years 2010-2011

This review focuses on examples reported in the years 2010-2011 dealing with the design of chromogenic and fluorogenic chemosensors or reagents for anions.

Eu(III) complexes of functionalized octadentate 1-hydroxypyridin-2-ones: stability, bioconjugation, and luminescence resonance energy transfer studies

The synthesis, stability, and photophysical properties of several Eu(III) complexes featuring the 1-hydroxypyridin-2-one (1,2-HOPO) chelate group in tetradentate and octadentate ligands are reported. These complexes pair highly efficient emission with exceptional stabilities (pEu ∼ 20.7-21.8) in aqueous solution at pH 7.4. Further analysis of their solution behavior has shown the observed luminescence intensity is significantly diminished below about pH ∼ 6 because of an apparent quenching mechanism involving protonation of the amine backbones. Nonetheless, under biologically relevant conditions, these complexes are promising candidates for applications in Homogeneous Time-Resolved Fluorescence (HTRF) assays and synthetic methodology to prepare derivatives with either a terminal amine or a carboxylate group suitable for bioconjugation has been developed. Lastly, we have demonstrated the use of these compounds as the energy donor in a Luminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (LRET) biological assay format.