Publications by Alberto Schena

Unintended specificity of an engineered ligand-binding protein facilitated by unpredicted plasticity of the protein fold

Attempts to create novel ligand-binding proteins often focus on formation of a binding pocket with shape complementarity against the desired ligand (particularly for compounds that lack distinct polar moieties). Although designed proteins often exhibit bin ...

OXFORD UNIV PRESS2018

Bioluminescent Antibodies for Point-of-Care Diagnostics

Kai Johnsson, Alberto Schena, Rudolf Griss, Qiuliyang Yu, Lin Xue

We introduce a general method to transform antibodies into ratiometric, bioluminescent sensor proteins for the no-wash quantification of analytes. Our approach is based on the genetic fusion of antibody fragments to NanoLuc luciferase and SNAP-tag, the lat ...

Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH2017

Highly Modular Bioluminescent Sensors for Small Molecules and Proteins

Kai Johnsson, Alberto Schena, Rudolf Griss, Qiuliyang Yu

Obtaining patient-specific information through the quantification of small molecules and proteins in bodily fluids is essential for personalized therapies. Point-of-care (POC) diagnostic devices hold the promise of delivering such benefit to a wide range o ...

Elsevier Academic Press Inc2017

Luciferases with tunable emission wavelengths

Kai Johnsson, Luc Reymond, Olivier Vincent Sallin, Alberto Schena, Rudolf Griss, Qiuliyang Yu, Lin Xue, Julien Hiblot, Nicholas Clarke Hill, Marina Daniela Beatrice Sabbadini

We introduce luciferases whose emission maxima can be tuned to different wavelengths by chemical labeling. These tunable luciferases are generated by inserting the small luciferase NanoLuc into the structures of the self-labeling proteins SNAP-tag or HaloT ...

Wiley-Blackwell2017

Means and methods for bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (bret) analysis in a biological sample

Kai Johnsson, Alberto Schena, Rudolf Griss

The invention relates to the field of in vitro detection methods using luminescence. Provided is a sensor molecule for detecting an analyte of interest in a sample using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET), the sensor molecule comprising a pro ...

2016

Sensor molecules and uses thereof

Kai Johnsson, Alberto Schena, Rudolf Griss

The invention generally relates to methods, reagents and devices for determining a concentration of an analyte in a sample. Provided is a proteinaceous sensor molecule for detecting an analyte of interest (A), comprising a signal generating moiety tethered ...

2015

SiR–Hoechst is a far-red DNA stain for live-cell nanoscopy

Kai Johnsson, Luc Reymond, Grazvydas Lukinavicius, Alberto Schena

Cell-permeable DNA stains are popular markers in live-cell imaging. Currently used DNA stains for live-cell imaging are either toxic, require illumination with blue light or are not compatible with super-resolution microscopy, thereby limiting their utilit ...

Nature Research2015

Sensing Acetylcholine and Anticholinesterases and Generalization of Semisynthetic Biosensors

Alberto Schena

EPFL2014

Sensing Acetylcholine and Anticholinesterase Compounds

Kai Johnsson, Alberto Schena

Acetylcholine is a key neurotransmitter, and anticholinesterase agents are essential compounds used as medical drugs, pesticides, and chemical warfare agents. A semisynthetic fluorescence-based probe for the direct, real-time detection of acetylcholine and ...

Wiley-Blackwell2013

Visualizing Biochemical Activities in Living Cells through Chemistry

Kai Johnsson, Luc Reymond, Matthias Albert Brun, Karolina Bojkowska, Birgit Mollwitz, Grazvydas Lukinavicius, Anastasiya Masharina, Alberto Schena, Keitaro Umezawa, Rudolf Griss

The development of molecular probes to visualize cellular processes is an important challenge in chemical biology. One possibility to create such cellular indicators is based on the selective labeling of proteins with synthetic probes in living cells. Over ...

2011

Synthesis, characterization, DNA interaction and potential applications of gold nanoparticles functionalized with Acridine Orange fluorophores

Alberto Schena

Two new water-soluble gold nanoparticles (AO-TEG-Au and AO-PEG-Au NPs) are prepared and characterized. They are stabilized by thioalkylated oligoethylene glycols and functionalized with fluorescent Acridine Orange (AO) derivatives. Despite the different co ...

2011