The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

Monitoring disease by detecting the concentration of metabolites is advantageous in terms of time and cost efficiency. While individual sensors are being developed to detect specific metabolites, an integrated approach is needed. Many metabolites are involved in enzymatic reactions catalyzed by the coenzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺)-dependent dehydrogenases, producing the reduced form of NAD⁺ (NADH), which exhibits blue fluorescence. This study describes an approach to quantifying metabolite concentrations by detecting enzymatically produced NADH. By introducing a red-fluorescent conjugated polymer (CP) into the system, a ratiometric fluorescence-based sensor was designed. An integrated platform combining CP and dehydrogenase was fabricated. Upon reaction of the platform with the target metabolite, the blue fluorescence increases and the red fluorescence decreases, enabling highly sensitive and self-calibrating quantification based on the fluorescence intensity ratio.