title: Fluorometric assay for detection and quantitation of polyamidoamine dendrimers.
abstract: Polyamidoamine dendrimers are protein-like nanomaterials that have many potential biological applications. Research studies using dendrimers often require their detection and quantitation. This article describes a simple, inexpensive, and rapid fluorometric assay based on the ability of dendrimers to bind the fluorescent probe, 8-anilino-1-naphthalene-sulfonic acid. This interaction leads to an enhanced fluorescence intensity of the dye that shows a linear relationship with dendrimer concentration. The procedure is applicable to dendrimers that have various surface functional groups and internal cores. Amine- and hydroxyl-terminated dendrimers gave the best calibration curves under alkaline conditions (pH 7.4). Carboxyl-terminated dendrimers required acidic conditions for their measurement. The assay for dendrimers with an amine surface and an ethylene diamine core was accurate between 0 and 100 microM and produced a within-run coefficient of less than 5%. Under the assay conditions used, the fluorescence signal strength was dependent on type of surface group and core length of the dendrimer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, USA. sharm1a@cmich.edu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Desai
mesh_terms: D000817:Anilino Naphthalenesulfonates; D002264:Carboxylic Acids / Q000032:analysis; D050091:Dendrimers; D005470:Fluorometry; D011073:Polyamines / Q000032:analysis*; D012995:Solubility; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D000817:Anilino Naphthalenesulfonates; D002264:Carboxylic Acids; D050091:Dendrimers; C104700:PAMAM Starburst; D011073:Polyamines; C027132:1-anilino-8-naphthalenesulfonate