ABSTRACT: Alexander Pines, David Wemmer, and colleagues have developed a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based xenon biosensor. The Berkeley Lab researchers have combined optical pumping laser technology with a technique of emplacing hyperpolarized xenon within a carrier structure having a binding region specific for a target species. This xenon biosensor exploits the sensitivity of the chemical shift of xenon to its immediate environment to allow observation of molecular recognition events such as protein-ligand binding.

The high signal-to-noise ratio afforded by the optical pumping of xenon allows a strong signal to be detected from a very small number of molecules. The simplicity of the xenon spectrum results in easily interpreted results while the absence of xenon in biological systems eliminates any background signal. This technology makes possible the observation of multiple recognition events, allowing the simultaneous detection of many analytes. The Berkeley Lab xenon biosensor may rival the fluorescence techniques that currently define the state-of-the-art for detection of minute quantities of biological molecules.

STATUS: U.S. Patent # 6,652,833. Available for licensing or collaborative research

REFERENCE NUMBER: IB-1643

PUBLICATION:

Spence, M. M., Rubin, S. M., Dimitrov, I. E., Ruiz, J. E., Wemmer, D. E. and Pines, A., “Functionalized Xenon as a Biosensor,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 2001, 98, 10654-10657.

SEE THESE OTHER BERKELEY LAB TECHNOLOGIES IN THIS FIELD:

• Low Field NMR/MRI Using High T_c SQUIDS, IB-1441
• Mobile Ex Situ High Resolution NMR and MRI, IB-1717
• Remote NMR/MRI Detection, IB-1771
• Safe and Selective Enhancement of NMR and MRI Using Hyperpolarized Noble Gases, IB-1168
• SQUID-Detected NMR/MRI at Ultralow Magnetic Fields, IB-1729