Yes / The polysialyltransferases (polySTs) catalyse the polymerisation of polysialic acid, which plays an important role in tumour metastasis. While assays are available to assess polyST enzyme activity, there is no methodology available specifically optimised for identification and quantitative evaluation of potential polyST inhibitors. The development of an HPLC-fluorescence-based enzyme assay described within includes a comprehensive investigation of assay conditions, including evaluation of metal ion composition, enzyme, substrate and acceptor concentrations, temperature, pH, and tolerance to DMSO, followed by validation using known polyST inhibitors. Thorough analysis of each of the assay components provided a set of optimised conditions. Under these optimised conditions, the experimentally observed Ki value for CMP, a competitive polyST inhibitor, was strongly correlated with the predicted Ki value, based on the classical Cheng-Prusoff equation [average fold error (AFE) = 1.043]. These results indicate that this assay can provide medium-throughput analysis for enzyme inhibitors with high accuracy, through determining the corresponding IC50 values with substrate concentration at the KM, without the need to perform extensive kinetic studies for each compound. In conclusion, an in vitro cell-free assay for accurate assessment of polyST inhibition is described. The utility of the assay for routine identification of potential polyST inhibitors is demonstrated, allowing quantitative measurement of inhibition to be achieved, and exemplified through assessment of full competitive inhibition. Given the considerable and growing interest in the polySTs as important anti-metastatic targets in cancer drug discovery, this is a vital tool to enable preclinical identification and evaluation of novel polyST inhibitors. / Yorkshire Cancer Research, Wellcome Trust

Antibiotics are defined as chemical substances that inhibit or limit the growth of microorganisms. Since the second world war, antibiotics have been widely used to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with serious bacterial infections caused by organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus. However, it has become increasingly difficult to treat bacterial infections due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains. The first clinical case of drug resistant bacteria was observed in S. aureus in 1947, just four years after the mass production of penicillin. Since then, resistance has been reported to every antibiotic ever employed. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States, more than 70% of hospital-acquired infections show resistance to at least one commonly used antibiotic. Coupled with the paucity of therapeutic agents in the pipeline, there is now an urgent demand for new antibiotics. One of the strategies employed to combat drug resistant bacteria requires new chemical entities that work through novel drug targets for which there is no pre-existing resistance. This thesis focuses on the essential metabolic enzyme biotin protein ligase (BPL) as one such new drug target. BPL is the enzyme responsible for covalently attaching the cofactor biotin prosthetic group onto the biotin-dependent enzymes such as the carboxylases, decarboxylases and transcarboxylases. Enzymatic biotinylation proceeds via a two-step reaction whereby biotinyl-5'-AMP is synthesized from biotin and ATP before the biotin moiety is transferred onto the side chain of one specific lysine present in the active site of the biotin-dependent enzyme. One example of an important biotin-dependent enzyme is acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC). ACC catalyzes the first committed step in fatty acid biosynthesis. Through genetic studies, it has been demonstrated that BPL activity is essential for bacterial survival. The aim for this project was to develop a convenient, high-throughput assay to measure BPL activity. This assay would permit 1) quantitative kinetic analysis of ligands and inhibitors and 2) screening of compound libraries for new BPL inhibitors. We propose that BPL inhibitors can be developed into new antibiotic agents. The novel BPL assay was developed employing fluorescence polarization (FP). FP is a light based technique which uses plane polarized light for the detection of tumbling motion of fluorescent molecules in solution. As polarization of the emitted light is relative to the apparent molecular mass of the fluorophore, this technique can be use for quantitation of changes in molecular mass of target molecules. This enabled 1) rapid kinetic analysis, 2) a minimal number of handling steps, 3) no washing steps and 4) automation by robotics. A first generation assay was developed for Escherichia coli BPL using peptide 85-11 that has been shown to be a convenient substrate. Following the BPL reaction, biotinylated peptides will form large molecular mass complexes with avidin. The amount of product could then be quantitated using FP. Here, kinetic analysis of MgATP (Km 0.25 ± 0.01 mM) and biotin (Km 1.45 ± 0.15 μM) binding produced results consistent with published data. We validated this assay with inhibition studies with end products of the BPL reaction, AMP and pyrophosphate, and a compound, biotinol-5'-AMP. Statistical analysis, performed upon both intraassay and interassay results (n = 30), showed the coefficient of variance to be <10% across all data sets. Furthermore, the Z' factors between 0.5 and 0.8 demonstrated the utility of this technology in high-throughput applications. However, the use of peptide 85-11, a substrate specific to E. coli BPL, does limit the application of this methodology to E. coli. In the second generation FP assay, I adapted this technology for S. aureus BPL by employing the biotin domain of S. aureus pyruvate carboxylase. Insertion of a fluorescein label was achieved by first engineering a cysteine residue into the domain by site directed mutagenesis then incubation with fluorescein-5'-maleimide. A series of mutants was created to investigate optimal positioning of the label into the substrate. Furthermore, the minimal size of the functional domain was determined. Our data showed that the placement of the fluorescein label is an important aspect of this project. Using this approach, I identified that a 90 amino acid domain with the label at position 1134 was optimal. Kinetic analysis of ligand binding showed SaBPL had a Km for biotin at 3.29 ± 0.37 μM and Km for MgATP at 66 ± 16.08 μM. This was in good agreement with data obtained from our previous assay measuring ³H-biotin incorporation. Inhibitor studies with pyrophosphate and analogues of biotin and biotinyl-5'-AMP further validated the assay. Various studies have shown cross-species biotinylation activities by a diverse range of BPLs. Therefore, using this methodology with a biotin domain as the substrate potentially provides a convenient assay for all BPLs. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1374330 / Thesis (M.Sc.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Molecular and Biomedical Science, 2009

Antibiotics are defined as chemical substances that inhibit or limit the growth of microorganisms. Since the second world war, antibiotics have been widely used to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with serious bacterial infections caused by organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus. However, it has become increasingly difficult to treat bacterial infections due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains. The first clinical case of drug resistant bacteria was observed in S. aureus in 1947, just four years after the mass production of penicillin. Since then, resistance has been reported to every antibiotic ever employed. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States, more than 70% of hospital-acquired infections show resistance to at least one commonly used antibiotic. Coupled with the paucity of therapeutic agents in the pipeline, there is now an urgent demand for new antibiotics. One of the strategies employed to combat drug resistant bacteria requires new chemical entities that work through novel drug targets for which there is no pre-existing resistance. This thesis focuses on the essential metabolic enzyme biotin protein ligase (BPL) as one such new drug target. BPL is the enzyme responsible for covalently attaching the cofactor biotin prosthetic group onto the biotin-dependent enzymes such as the carboxylases, decarboxylases and transcarboxylases. Enzymatic biotinylation proceeds via a two-step reaction whereby biotinyl-5'-AMP is synthesized from biotin and ATP before the biotin moiety is transferred onto the side chain of one specific lysine present in the active site of the biotin-dependent enzyme. One example of an important biotin-dependent enzyme is acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC). ACC catalyzes the first committed step in fatty acid biosynthesis. Through genetic studies, it has been demonstrated that BPL activity is essential for bacterial survival. The aim for this project was to develop a convenient, high-throughput assay to measure BPL activity. This assay would permit 1) quantitative kinetic analysis of ligands and inhibitors and 2) screening of compound libraries for new BPL inhibitors. We propose that BPL inhibitors can be developed into new antibiotic agents. The novel BPL assay was developed employing fluorescence polarization (FP). FP is a light based technique which uses plane polarized light for the detection of tumbling motion of fluorescent molecules in solution. As polarization of the emitted light is relative to the apparent molecular mass of the fluorophore, this technique can be use for quantitation of changes in molecular mass of target molecules. This enabled 1) rapid kinetic analysis, 2) a minimal number of handling steps, 3) no washing steps and 4) automation by robotics. A first generation assay was developed for Escherichia coli BPL using peptide 85-11 that has been shown to be a convenient substrate. Following the BPL reaction, biotinylated peptides will form large molecular mass complexes with avidin. The amount of product could then be quantitated using FP. Here, kinetic analysis of MgATP (Km 0.25 ± 0.01 mM) and biotin (Km 1.45 ± 0.15 μM) binding produced results consistent with published data. We validated this assay with inhibition studies with end products of the BPL reaction, AMP and pyrophosphate, and a compound, biotinol-5'-AMP. Statistical analysis, performed upon both intraassay and interassay results (n = 30), showed the coefficient of variance to be <10% across all data sets. Furthermore, the Z' factors between 0.5 and 0.8 demonstrated the utility of this technology in high-throughput applications. However, the use of peptide 85-11, a substrate specific to E. coli BPL, does limit the application of this methodology to E. coli. In the second generation FP assay, I adapted this technology for S. aureus BPL by employing the biotin domain of S. aureus pyruvate carboxylase. Insertion of a fluorescein label was achieved by first engineering a cysteine residue into the domain by site directed mutagenesis then incubation with fluorescein-5'-maleimide. A series of mutants was created to investigate optimal positioning of the label into the substrate. Furthermore, the minimal size of the functional domain was determined. Our data showed that the placement of the fluorescein label is an important aspect of this project. Using this approach, I identified that a 90 amino acid domain with the label at position 1134 was optimal. Kinetic analysis of ligand binding showed SaBPL had a Km for biotin at 3.29 ± 0.37 μM and Km for MgATP at 66 ± 16.08 μM. This was in good agreement with data obtained from our previous assay measuring ³H-biotin incorporation. Inhibitor studies with pyrophosphate and analogues of biotin and biotinyl-5'-AMP further validated the assay. Various studies have shown cross-species biotinylation activities by a diverse range of BPLs. Therefore, using this methodology with a biotin domain as the substrate potentially provides a convenient assay for all BPLs. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1374330 / Thesis (M.Sc.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Molecular and Biomedical Science, 2009

Antibiotics are defined as chemical substances that inhibit or limit the growth of microorganisms. Since the second world war, antibiotics have been widely used to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with serious bacterial infections caused by organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus. However, it has become increasingly difficult to treat bacterial infections due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains. The first clinical case of drug resistant bacteria was observed in S. aureus in 1947, just four years after the mass production of penicillin. Since then, resistance has been reported to every antibiotic ever employed. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States, more than 70% of hospital-acquired infections show resistance to at least one commonly used antibiotic. Coupled with the paucity of therapeutic agents in the pipeline, there is now an urgent demand for new antibiotics. One of the strategies employed to combat drug resistant bacteria requires new chemical entities that work through novel drug targets for which there is no pre-existing resistance. This thesis focuses on the essential metabolic enzyme biotin protein ligase (BPL) as one such new drug target. BPL is the enzyme responsible for covalently attaching the cofactor biotin prosthetic group onto the biotin-dependent enzymes such as the carboxylases, decarboxylases and transcarboxylases. Enzymatic biotinylation proceeds via a two-step reaction whereby biotinyl-5'-AMP is synthesized from biotin and ATP before the biotin moiety is transferred onto the side chain of one specific lysine present in the active site of the biotin-dependent enzyme. One example of an important biotin-dependent enzyme is acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC). ACC catalyzes the first committed step in fatty acid biosynthesis. Through genetic studies, it has been demonstrated that BPL activity is essential for bacterial survival. The aim for this project was to develop a convenient, high-throughput assay to measure BPL activity. This assay would permit 1) quantitative kinetic analysis of ligands and inhibitors and 2) screening of compound libraries for new BPL inhibitors. We propose that BPL inhibitors can be developed into new antibiotic agents. The novel BPL assay was developed employing fluorescence polarization (FP). FP is a light based technique which uses plane polarized light for the detection of tumbling motion of fluorescent molecules in solution. As polarization of the emitted light is relative to the apparent molecular mass of the fluorophore, this technique can be use for quantitation of changes in molecular mass of target molecules. This enabled 1) rapid kinetic analysis, 2) a minimal number of handling steps, 3) no washing steps and 4) automation by robotics. A first generation assay was developed for Escherichia coli BPL using peptide 85-11 that has been shown to be a convenient substrate. Following the BPL reaction, biotinylated peptides will form large molecular mass complexes with avidin. The amount of product could then be quantitated using FP. Here, kinetic analysis of MgATP (Km 0.25 ± 0.01 mM) and biotin (Km 1.45 ± 0.15 μM) binding produced results consistent with published data. We validated this assay with inhibition studies with end products of the BPL reaction, AMP and pyrophosphate, and a compound, biotinol-5'-AMP. Statistical analysis, performed upon both intraassay and interassay results (n = 30), showed the coefficient of variance to be <10% across all data sets. Furthermore, the Z' factors between 0.5 and 0.8 demonstrated the utility of this technology in high-throughput applications. However, the use of peptide 85-11, a substrate specific to E. coli BPL, does limit the application of this methodology to E. coli. In the second generation FP assay, I adapted this technology for S. aureus BPL by employing the biotin domain of S. aureus pyruvate carboxylase. Insertion of a fluorescein label was achieved by first engineering a cysteine residue into the domain by site directed mutagenesis then incubation with fluorescein-5'-maleimide. A series of mutants was created to investigate optimal positioning of the label into the substrate. Furthermore, the minimal size of the functional domain was determined. Our data showed that the placement of the fluorescein label is an important aspect of this project. Using this approach, I identified that a 90 amino acid domain with the label at position 1134 was optimal. Kinetic analysis of ligand binding showed SaBPL had a Km for biotin at 3.29 ± 0.37 μM and Km for MgATP at 66 ± 16.08 μM. This was in good agreement with data obtained from our previous assay measuring ³H-biotin incorporation. Inhibitor studies with pyrophosphate and analogues of biotin and biotinyl-5'-AMP further validated the assay. Various studies have shown cross-species biotinylation activities by a diverse range of BPLs. Therefore, using this methodology with a biotin domain as the substrate potentially provides a convenient assay for all BPLs. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1374330 / Thesis (M.Sc.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Molecular and Biomedical Science, 2009

A range of novel and potent NQO1 and NQO2 inhibitors were synthesised. A series of 4-hydroxycoumarin analogues were prepared and assayed against NQO1. Furthermore, a more efficient synthetic route was developed by employing the “borrowing hydrogen” methodology. All the synthetic unsymmetrical dicoumarol analogues were novel and potent NQO1 inhibitors with IC50¬ values in the nanomolar range. The most potent analogues were non-toxic against the non-small cell lung cancer cell line, A549.The potential NQO2 inhibitors were classified in three different groups based on their core structure: 4-aminoquinolines, 7-chloro-4-aminoquinolines and 6-methoxy-4-aminoquinolines, where each group comprises of the following four subsets: the N-phenylated-, N-benzylated-, N-benzoylated- and the 4-hydrazinoquinoline analogues. Most of the quinoline analogues were found to be potent NQO2 inhibitors with IC50 values in the nanomolar range with the exception of the N-phenylated subset. The most potent analogues were toxic against the human breast adenocarcinoma cell line, MDA-MB-468.

Lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) constitute a pervasive class of small proteins implicated in many biological and physiological processes, including seed development, germination, cuticle formation, and abiotic stress responses. In this study, we explored the role of Arabidopsis LTP12 protein in mitigating environmental stresses. To address this, we analyzed the T-DNA knockout mutant ltp12, focusing on its responses to salinity and osmotic stress. Utilizing antioxidant enzyme assays, phenotypic analyses (including water loss, chlorophyll content, seed germination rates, root length, and relative water content), and lipid profile analysis via Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC), we found that ltp12 mutants showed reduced catalase and peroxidase activities and poorer hydration, chlorophyll content, germination, and growth under stress, compared to wild-type Col-0 plants. Mutants delayed vegetative-to-floral phase transition compared to wild-type. Additionally, lipid analysis indicated that the wild-type plants had increased phospholipids under high osmotic stress, suggesting LTP12's involvement in lipid reorganization during stress responses.

La L-asparaginase est une enzyme d’intérêt thérapeutique pour le traitement des leucémies aigües lymphoblastiques participant à l’hydrolyse de son substrat naturel L-asparagine conduisant à l’apoptose des cellules cancéreuses. À ce jour, la L-asparaginase d’origine bactérienne fait partie intégrante des formulations car possédant des activités catalytiques élevées mais provoquant de nombreux effets secondaires liés à une immunogénicité. Trois enzymes avec une activité Lasparaginase produites chez l’homme ont été découvertes récemment mais possèdent des activités catalytiques qui sont 1000 à 2000 fois inférieures aux enzymes d’origine bactérienne. Augmenter l’activité catalytique de ces enzymes par évolution dirigée pourraient permettre leurs utilisations en thérapeutique en plus de potentiellement participer à la réduction de l’immunogénicité chez les patients. Ces travaux de doctorat décrivent le développement d’outils pour l’expression etla détection de l’activité L-asparaginase à l’échelle d’une cellule individuelle. La L-asparaginase d’E. coli, utilisée en thérapeutique, a servi de référence et a permis de démontrer que le test AUR est le plus adapté pour la mesure de l’activité en microfluidique. L’expression de l’enzyme à partir de différents vecteurs d’expression a montré que l’expression périplasmique semble la plus adaptée pour le ciblage permettant un bon rendement et une bonne accessibilité pour le substrat. La viabilité des cellules à l’issu des mesures a été aussi démontrée. Ces outils pourront être directement utilisés pour le criblage de banques de mutants de L-asparaginase d’origine humaine en microfluidique. Les propriétés de la L-asparaginase ont aussi été utilisées pour démontrer la potentielle utilisation de billes de silice en tant que biocatalyseurs où sont confinées des bactéries. Ces billes sont des excellents supports pour la croissance de microorganismes qui peuvent rester viables au-delà d’une semaine. L’expression d’enzymes peut être induite et l’activité catalytique être aisément contrôlée en faisant varier la concentration bactérienne au sein du matériau. La combinaison de différentes populations bactériennes offre la possibilité d’effectuer des réactions en cascade. Le recyclage de ces billes pour différents cycles de réactions a également été démontré. Ces matériaux bioactifs peuvent avoir de nombreuses applications dans le domaine des biotechnologies. / L-asparaginase is an enzyme of therapeutic value for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Ths enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of L-asparagine conducting to apoptosis of cancer cells. To date, L-asparaginase of bacterial origine is used in the treatments due to high catalytic activities but causing a number of side effects linked with an immunogenicity. The human produces three enzymes with L-asparaginase activity but their catalytic activities are 1000 to 2000 times lower than the bacterial enzymes. Increase the catalytic activity of these enzymes by directed evolution could allow their uses in therapeutic in addition to potentially reduce immunogenicity in patients. This PhD work describes the development of tools for expression and detection of L-asparaginase at the single cell level for their applications in the screening of human L-asparaginase libraries in microfluidic. E. coli L-asparaginase, used in therapy, served as a reference and allowed to demonstrate that AUR assay is most suitable for measuring activity in microfluidic. Expression of the enzyme from different expression vectors showed that the periplasmic expression seems to be the most successful for screening enabling a good yield and good accessibility for the substrate. The viability of the cells following the measures has been shown. These tools might be used for the screening of mutants libraries of human L-asparaginases in microfluidic. The properties of L-asparaginase were also used to demonstrate the potential use of silica beads as biocatalysts in which bacteria are confined. These beads are excellent supports for the growth of microorganisms which may remain viable beyond one week. The expression of the enzymes may be induced and the catalytic activity can be reliably controlled by varying the concentration of bacteria within the material. The combination of various bacterial populations provides the possibility to carry out cascades reactions. The recycling of these beads for several cycles of reactions was also demonstrated. These bioactive materials have many potential applications in the field of biotechnologies.

This thesis is an investigation of novel mono-ADP-ribosylating toxins. In the current data-rich era, making the leap from sequence data to knowledge is a task that requires an elegant bioinformatics toolset to pinpoint questions. A strategy to expand important protein-family knowledge is required, particularly in cases in which primary sequence identity is low but structural conservation is high. For example, the mono-ADP-ribosylating toxins fit these criteria and several approaches have been used to accelerate the discovery of new family members. A newly developed tactic for detecting remote members of this family -- in which fold recognition dominates -- reduces reliance on sequence similarity and advances us toward a true structure-based protein-family expansion methodology. Chelt, a cholera-like toxin from Vibrio cholerae, and Certhrax, an anthrax-like toxin from Bacillus cereus, are among six new bacterial protein toxins identified and characterized using in silico and cell-based techniques. Medically relevant toxins from Mycobacterium avium and Enterococcus faecalis were also uncovered. Agriculturally relevant toxins were found in Photorhabdus luminescens and Vibrio splendidus. Computer software was used to build models and analyze each new toxin to understand features including: structure, secretion, cell entry, activation, NAD+ substrate binding, intracellular target binding and the reaction mechanism. Yeast-based activity tests have since confirmed activity. Vibrio cholerae produces cholix – a potent protein toxin of particular interest that has diphthamide-specific ADP-ribosyltransferase activity against eukaryotic elongation factor 2. Here we present a 2.1Å apo X-ray structure as well as a 1.8Å X-ray structure of cholix in complex with its natural substrate, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). Hallmark catalytic residues were substituted and analyzed both for NAD+ binding and ADP-ribosyltransferase activity using a fluorescence-based assay. These new toxins serve as a reference for ongoing inhibitor development for this important class of virulence factors. In addition to using toxins as targets for antivirulence compounds, they can be used to make vaccines and new cancer therapies. / Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (CGS-D), Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Cystic Fibrosis Canada, Human Frontier Science Program, Ontario government (OGSST), University of Guelph (Graduate Research Scholarship)

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are recalcitrant organic pollutants, which occur widely in the environment. Some of these compounds are carcinogenic and toxic, many studies therefore focus on suitable remediation technologies. It has been shown that composting is an efficient treatment for contaminated solid matrices. Changes in several enzyme activities during co-composting of PAH-contaminated soil were studied in this thesis. The total initial concentration of analyzed PAHs in the soil was 1065 ± 86 µg·g-1 . The chosen activities represented well-known key enzymes involved in the transformation of PAHs or catechol as the central metabolite of PAH microbial degradation. At first, a method for extraction of the selected enzymes from the compost matrix was optimized. This approach was then used for the extraction of the enzymes from compost samples collected at each phase of composting. The activity of manganese peroxidase, laccase, tyrosinase and catechol-2,3-dioxygenase was detected during the cooling and the maturation phase. The only detected activity during the initial mesophilic phase was that of manganese peroxidase. The activities of catechol-1,2- dioxygenase and lignin peroxidase were not detected at all. Despite the fact that PAHs were substantially degraded, no influence of PAHs...

Chapter 1: Introduction to the luminescent properties of lanthanides Luminescence properties of trivalent lanthanides have been explored extensively over the past few decades owing to their unique properties. Lanthanides emission is known to be due to intra-configurational f-f transitions. Because the partially filled 4f shell is well shielded from its 26 environment by the closed 5sand 5pshells, the ligands in the first and second coordination sphere perturb the electronic configurations of the trivalent lanthanide ions only to a very limited extent. This leads to interesting properties such as long lifetimes, sharp line-like emissions etc. which in turn make lanthanides very attractive choice for commercial optical applications. Despite this, the scope of applications remained limited because of the low molar extinction coefficient values of the forbidden lanthanide f-f transitions. However, this problem has been successfully addressed by complexing the lanthanide ion with suitable ligands which can sensitize it resulting in a significant increase in the emission intensity (so called “antenna effect”). The strategy worked very well and resulted in widespread applications of lanthanides form biology to optoelectronics. This chapter discusses elementary ideas regarding the mechanism of sensitization and relevant examples that traces various applications of such lanthanide complexes from the current literature. Chapter 2: A self-assembled Europium Cholate hydrogel: a novel approach towards lanthanide sensitization Luminescent lanthanides can be of great value in a number of possible applications but their scope is limited by their intrinsic low molar absorptivities. Though this problem can be circumvented by complexing the lanthanide ion with suitable chelating ligands to improve the luminescence properties drastically, the design of such systems often involves meticulous planning and laborious synthetic steps to obtain a ligand suitable for the job. It is therefore desirable to have a simpler version of a sensitizing system that does not require the complexities of a chelating ligand but can sensitize trivalent lanthanides with comparable efficiency. It was observed in our group that divalent metal ions (Ni2+, Zn2+, Cu2+, Coetc.) form hydrogels on addition of sodium cholate. We extended to obtain hydrogels of trivalent lanthanides. Furthermore, when the gel was doped with pyrene, a ten-fold increase in the intensity of Eu(III) emission was observed (Fig 2). Thus we established a unique way to sensitize lanthanides in a hydrogel media by non-coordinating chromophores. The approach was completely modular in nature and avoids any laborious synthesis. We also tried other derivatives of pyrene as sensitizers and found that 1-pyreneboronic acid also caused similar sensitization of Eu(III). Fig 2. (a) Schematic representation of the sensitization process (the arrangement of molecules in the gel fiber is arbitrary). Eu-cholate (5 mM/15 mM) gel (a) normal light and (b) 354 nm UV excitation in the presence of 6 μM pyrene Further studies revealed, that 2,3-dihydroxynapthalene (DHN) can sensitize Tb(III) in a similar hydrogel. We also demonstrated Tb(III) to Eu(III) energy transfer process occurring in the gel when doped with DHN. This allowed us to achieve a hydrogel system with tunable luminescence properties (by varying relative ratios of Tb(III) and Eu(III) ). When the effect of divalent metal ions on such energy transfer processes were explored, it was observed that the luminescence from the composite gel of Tb(III)/ Eu(III) is tunable by Zn(II) and through proper manipulation of concentrations one can obtain white light emitting gel (Fig 3). Fig 3. Effect of Zn(II) (from left to right 0 mM, 2.8 mM, 11.3 mM) on Tb3+ (4.5 mM)/Eu3+ (0.11mM)/ sodium cholate (13.6 mM) gels. b) Tb/Eu/Zn-cholate gel (Tb3+ (4.4 mM), Eu3+ (0.11 mM), Zn2+ (7.4 mM), NaC (13.6 mM, DHN 0.2 mM) under 365 nm UV lamp (c) CIE 1931 diagram depicting the luminescence as white (black spot). Chapter 3. A “Pro-Sensitizer” based Sensing of Enzymes using Tb(III) Luminescence in a Hydrogel matrix This chapter descirbes design and realisation of a sensor system based on Tb(III) luminescnece for the detection of enzymes. The idea involved synthesizing a covalently modified DHN molecule by attaching appropriate enzyme cleavable units. We coined the term “pro-sensitizer”to describe the modified molecule which would not sensitize Tb(III) in the gel matrix but when proper enzymes are applied the free form of DHN would be released triggering a luminescence response from Tb(III). This would enable us to monitor the acitivities of the particular enzyme by examining the luminescence intensity enhancement with time (Fig 4) Fig 4. A “pro-sensitizer” based approach to detect different types of enzymes in a hydrogel matrix through Tb(III) luminescence. We applied the idea to develop a novel luminogenic gel probe for inexpensive and rapid detection of three different hydrolases, lipase, β–glucosidase and α-chymotrypsin. The corresponding “pro-sensitizer”for each enzyme were synthesized (Fig 5).The sensing technique depends on the gel matrix to provide the nessesary platform for lanthanide sensitization. Thereofore, it enjoys an edge over the contemporary techniques that typically involve specially designed and synthesized multidentate chelating ligands for this purpose. We also determined important kinetic parameters of all the enzymes, thus enabling us to have a better insight into the activity of the enzymes in the hydrogel matrix. Fig 4. Pro-sensitizers molecules for (1) lipase, (2) β-glucosidase and (3)α-chymotrypsin Chapter 4. A novel approach towards templated synthesis of lanthanide trifluoride nanoparticles Nanomaterials with excellent optical properties have been of special interest. Lanthanide derived nanoparticles, owing to their unique physical properties, provide an excellent choice for applications such as biolabels, lasers, optical amplifiers, and optical-display phosphors. Several types of lanthanide nanoparticles or nanocrystals are reported in the literature such as Nd2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb2O3, and Y2O3. Among them lanthanide fluoride nanoparticles have emerged as the best choice because of their low phonon energy, and thus minimum quenching of emissive Lnions thereby allowing maximum efficiency for several optical applications. In previous literature precedence, LnF3 nanoparticles were typically synthesized following conventional approaches which necessitate use of high temperatures, high pressures (hydrothermal techniques) and capping ligands. In this chapter, we demonstrated a simpler synthesis of LnF3 nanoparticles at ambient temperatures without the requirement of added capping agents. The room temperature synthesis of LnF3 was unprecedented and was achieved simply by diffusing NaF solution through the hydrogels of corresponding Ln-cholate gels. The nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and by powder XRD analysis which established the presence of very small (3-4 nm) nanoparticles mono-dispersed uniformly over the the gel matrix (Fig 6). The LnF3 containing xerogels of Tb(III) and Eu(III) cholate gels were also shown to be highly emissive. Fig 6. HRTEM images of a) TbF3, b) GdF3, c) NdF3 and d) DyF3 in their corresponding gel media.