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Fluorescent glucose biosensor


Fluorescent glucose biosensors are devices that measure the concentration of glucose in diabetic patients by means of sensitive protein that relays the concentration by means of fluorescence, an alternative to amperometric sension of glucose. No device has yet entered the medical market, but, due to the prevalence of diabetes, it is the prime drive in the construction of fluorescent biosensors.

Keeping glucose levels in check is crucial to minimize the onset of the damage caused by diabetes. As a consequence, in conjunction with insulin administrations, the prime requirement for diabetic patients is to regularly monitor their blood glucose levels. The monitoring systems currently in general use have the drawback of below optimal number of readings, due to their reliance on a drop of fresh blood. Some continuous glucose monitors are commercially available, but suffer from the severe drawback of a short working life of the probe. The majority of these work amperometrically. As a result, there is an effort to create a sensor that relies on a different mechanism, such as via external infrared spectroscopy or via fluorescent biosensors . Various strategies exist to detect glucose levels using fluorescence, the first and most common being a Fret competition assay between glucose and a labelled glucose polymer for the binding site of Concanavalin A. Over the years, using a combination of rational design and screening approaches, many possible combinations of fluorescent sensor for glucose have been studied with varying degrees of success: In most approaches, the glucose concentration is translated into a change in fluorescence either by using a Fret pair or by using environment sensitive (solvatochromic) dyes in a variety of combinations, the fluorescent small molecule, protein or quantum dot have been used in conjunction with a glucose binding moiety either a boronic acid functionalized fluorophore or a protein, such as glucose oxidase, concanavalin A, glucose/galactose-binding protein, glucose dehydrogenase and glucokinase. In general, the change seen with Fret competition assays is small (see below).


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