Graduation date: 1993

Deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid under physiological condition are polyanions composed of heterocyclic bases linked through sugar phosphate backbone. Due to Watson-Crick base pairing, DNA exists in double-helical form between two antiparallel strands of nucleic acid. Different conformations of DNA is possible among which the B-DNA form is considered to be the most common, and it is a right-handed double-helix with base pairs stacked at the center. There are two well-defined grooves termed as major and minor grooves, each has characteristic width and depth. Most of the DNA binding proteins generally approach DNA through the major groove, while small molecules such as drugs, antitumor antibiotics,1 their synthetic analogue,2 carcinogens,3 and the transition metal complexes4 interact with DNA through minor groove. The nucleic acids function in the storage and transfer of genetic information. The function of cell expressions of proteins, synthesis of all bio-materials are directly or indirectly governed by the nucleic acid present in the body. Not only that, the origin of many diseases lie behind the structural modification or alterations in nucleic acids occur beyond our control.5 There are different drugs both natural and synthetic which are important in antibiotic chemotherapy, act against these diseases by interacting with DNA. Now to understand the actual mechanism of many diseases, how drugs interact with DNA and its specificity, binding sites of DNA, we need to develop molecules that modify or interact with biological molecules and such molecules can probe various structural aspects and type of interaction of macromolecular association complexes. One of such probe is the DNA cleaving agent. The potential scope of the utility of these compound is enormous and ranges from the creation of synthetic restriction enzymes for use by molecular biologists to the development of chemotherapeutic agents (Fe(BLM), calicheamicin) that may be effective against a variety of neoplastic diseases. They can also act as a structural probe (e.g. Fe(EDTA)2), drug / protein-DNA footprinting agent and affinity cleaving agent.

Nucleic acid probes against intracellular targets can find essential applications in biodosimetry. This thesis describes the development of multiple nucleic acid probes, including aptamers and molecular beacons, against radiation-responsive intracellular molecular targets via microfluidic technology. Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotide molecules that bind with high affinity and specificity to a wide range of target molecules. The method of systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) plays an essential role in the isolation of aptamers from a randomized oligonucleotide library. To date, significant modifications and improvements of the SELEX process have been achieved, engendering various forms of implementation from conventional SELEX to microfluidics-based full-chip SELEX. While full-chip SELEX is generally considered advantageous over conventional SELEX, there has not yet been a conclusive comparison between the methods. Herein, we present a comparative study of three SELEX strategies for aptamer isolation, including those using conventional agarose bead-based partitioning, microfluidic affinity selection, and fully integrated microfluidic affinity selection and PCR amplification. Using immunoglobulin E (IgE) as a model target molecule, we compare these strategies in terms of the time and cost for each step of the SELEX process, including affinity selection, amplification, and oligonucleotide conditioning. Target-binding oligonucleotides in the enriched pools are sequenced and compared to assess the relative efficacy of the SELEX strategies. We show that the microfluidic strategies are more time- and cost-efficient than conventional SELEX. Aptamers are an alternative category of affinity probes that are much smaller in size, making them ideal probes for intracellular targets. However, few aptamers are developed against intracellular targets, and the few intracellular-targeting aptamers are mainly used as intramers engineered to be expressed inside the target cells, which are unsuitable for intracellular biodosimetry applications. Herein, we use a radiation biomarker BAX as a target, and present an intracellular aptamer developed via microfluidic technologies. The isolated BAX aptamer would allow for in situ labeling of intracellular BAX protein, and we have preliminarily demonstrated the dose-dependent labeling in ex vivo human blood samples. This method could enable the development of aptamers for a panel of intracellular proteins towards radiation biodosimetry applications. Aptamer development involves a screening process following the sequencing of the enriched pool. This process would usually be performed with affinity determination methods, which are often time-consuming and may hinder the development of aptamers. Herein, we reported a graphene-based nanosensor designed for the aptamer screening process. Screening of enriched pool against IgE protein was performed on this sensor. By comparative validation, this sensor showed the capacity to identify the strong binders in the enriched aptamer candidate pools and can be used to expedite aptamer development. Molecular beacons are single-stranded oligonucleotides that adopt a stem-loop structure for in situ hybridization. They can be designed to target radiation-responsive mRNAs, which is a class of biomarkers that are attractive for biodosimetry. We design and use molecular beacons as probes for the measurement of radiation-induced changes of intracellular mRNA in a microfluidic device for the determination of radiation dosage. Our experiments, in which fixed TK6 cells labeled with a molecular beacon specific to BAX mRNA exhibited dose-dependent fluorescence in a manner consistent with RT-qPCR analysis, demonstrate the potential utility of this approach in point-of-care biodosimetry. Molecular beacons against FDXR mRNA have also been developed preliminarily. In summary, this thesis presents the development of multiple molecular probes for intracellular targets, aiming to be applied towards biodosimetry applications. Opportunities for future research are discussed at the end of the thesis, including enhancements in microfluidic measurements of intracellular biomarkers, the development of nucleic acid probes for multiplexed measurements, and the creation of integrated microfluidic devices for point-of-care intracellular biodosimetry.

Ce travail s'inscrit dans le cadre général de la mise au point et de l'étude d'agents potentiellement photothérapeutiques. Dans cette optique, les recherches menées dans notre laboratoire sont consacrées principalement à l'étude de complexes photooxydants de ruthénium(II) contenant des ligands &61552;-déficients TAP (1,4,5,8-tétraazaphénanthrène). Ces composés sont en effet capables, sous illumination, d'oxyder différentes biomolécules pour mener, notamment, à la formation de photoadduits qui pourraient perturber le fonctionnement d'enzymes cellulaires in vivo.<p><p>La première partie de ce travail a été consacrée à la mise au point d'un nouveau système d'ancrage de ces complexes. Elle décrit les voies de synthèse et de purification de deux nouveaux ligands fonctionnalisés: la phen" et le TAP", ainsi que celles de trois nouveaux complexes chélatés par ces nouveaux ligands: le &61531;Ru(TAP)2phen"&61533;2+, le &61531;Ru(TAP)2TAP"&61533;2+ et le &61531;Ru(phen)2phen"&61533;2+. Ces composés ont été attachés, via une liaison oxime, sur oligonucléotides synthétiques et sur polymères biodégradables.<p>La seconde partie de notre travail a été consacrée à l'étude photochimique de conjugués oligonucléotide-complexe sous forme de simples et de doubles brins. Pour les conjugués à base du &61531;Ru(TAP)2phen&61533;2+, nous avons pu mettre en évidence un photocrosslinking lorsque des guanines étaient présentes dans le brin complémentaire. La formation de ce photoadduit est moins efficace que celle observée avec l'ancien système et montre une dépendance en l'extrémité d'ancrage du complexe (5' ou 3'). Pour les conjugués fonctionnalisés avec le &61531;Ru(TAP)3&61533;2+, nous avons montré que le photocrosslinking, dans le duplexe avec guanines, était moins efficace à cause de la photodéchélation de ce composé. De plus, nous avons pu mettre en évidence un quenching de la luminescence par les bases adénines dans les conjugués simples et doubles brins sans guanine ainsi qu'un photocrosslinking dans le duplexe sans guanine. Enfin, nous avons pu déterminer pour la première fois le rendement quantique de la réaction de photojonction via les bases guanines.<p>Nous avons ensuite étudié, d'un point de vue photophysique et photochimique, des conjugués complexe-polymère biodégradable dont le rôle sera de faire pénétrer les composés photoréactifs à l'intérieur des cellules. D'une part, nous avons montré que la présence du polymère avait peu d'influence sur les propriétés photophysiques des complexes. D'autre part, l'utilisation de différentes techniques, nous a permis de démontrer que les complexes ancrés chimiquement sur ces macromolécules sont toujours capables de photooxyder la guanine et de mener à la formation de photoadduits sur GMP et sur oligonucléotides.<p>Finalement, la dernière partie de notre travail a été consacrée à l'étude des complexes photoréactifs &61531;Ru(TAP)2phen&61533;2+ et &61531;Ru(TAP)3& / Doctorat en sciences, Spécialisation chimie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)