Our research interest is the synthesis of Cyanine dyes and systematically study of the structure of SYBR green related Cyanine dyes. We try to find out those key points that change the photophysical qualities of these dyes. According to our previous studies we have identify some of the important elements to produce even brighter fluorescent probes for nucleic acid staining.
Also, in our previous studies we have developed, synthesized and study functional molecules and gold nanoclusters and combinations thereof, link them together and study their behavior in bio systems.
The breakthroughs in synthetic nano chemistry and characterization techniques of 1-3 nanometer atomic precise clusters covered by a monolayer of organic molecules have made the manipulation of gold nanoparticles with atomic and molecular precision possible over the last decade.
Fluorescent probes are important tools for cell and molecular biologists in many different applications. Monomethine cyanine dyes are widely used for the detection of nucleic acids due to their bright turn-on fluorescence and selective binding to double stranded nucleic acids. There are few attributes that such fluorescent probes need to exhibit to be viable for sensing applications. These include high brightness combined with low background emission, high photostability under prolonged excitation, and low cytotoxicity, if applied in vivo. Particularly, the demand for increasingly bright nucleic acid sensors continues and to accomplish this, we need to study the key factors that improve the behavior of the cyanine dyes as fluorescent probes for nucleic acid detection.
PhD Ville Saarnio
PhD Karolina Sokolowska
PhD Johanna Alaranta