Increasing the luminescence of lanthanide(III) macrocyclic complexes by the use of polymers and lanthanide enhanced luminescence

A Eu (III)-macrocycle-isothiocyanate, Quantum DyeTM, has been reacted with lysine homo- and hetero-peptides to give polymers with multiple luminescent side chains. Contrary to the concentration quenching that occurs with conventional organic fluorophores, the attachment of multiple Quantum Dyes to a polymer results in a concomitant increase in luminescence. The emission intensity of the peptide-bound Quantum Dye units is approximately linearly related to their number. The attachment of peptides containing multiple lanthanide (III) macrocycles to analyte-binding species is facilitated by employing solid-phase technology. Bead-bound peptides are first labeled with multiple Quantum Dye units, then conjugated to an antibody, and finally released from the bead by specific cleavage with Proteinase K unedr physiological conditions. Since the luminescence of lanthanide(III) macrocycles is enhanced by the presence of GD(III) or Y(III) ions in a micellar system, a significant increase in signal can be achieved by attaching a polymer labeled with multiple Quantum Dye units to an analyte- binding species, such as a monoclonal antibody, or by taking advantage of the luminescence enhancing effects of Gd(III) or Y(III), or by both approaches concomitantly. A comparison between the integrated intensity and lifetime measurements of the Eu(III)-macrocycle under a variety of conditions show that the signal increase caused by Gd(III) can not be explained solely by the increase in lifetime, and must result in significant part from an energy transfer process invloving donors not directly bound to the Eu(III).© (2001) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.