Understanding the biochemical composition of cells, organelles and body fluids is essential for uncovering both physiological and pathological processes. This requires the development of chemical tools to complement current imaging and bioanalytical techniques. While we have shown the considerable potential of fluorescent sensors to understand the chemistry of cells and body fluids,1 we are now working towards the development of a range of advanced chemical techniques to further enhance the understanding of biological systems, including sensor arrays and multiplexed imaging approaches.
Cross-reactive sensor arrays coupled with multivariate statistical analysis are particularly useful for studying complex samples such as body fluids. We have developed a number of fluorescent sensor arrays for diagnostic applications. For example, our array that can distinguish and quantify serum platinum levels can be used to gain information on the concentration of platinum drugs within clinical samples.2
Multiplexed imaging captures multiple signals simultaneously, therefore enabling detection and visualisation of multiple analytes. We are interested in developing array-on-a-molecule type multiplexed systems that enable simultaneous imaging and quantification of analytes and chemical environments. For example, we have shown that covalent attachment of two pH-responsive fluorophores onto a nanoparticle enables the accurate quantification of pH within cells with high sub-cellular resolution.