Fluorophore chelated lanthanide luminescent probes with improved quantum efficiency

1. A composition comprising:

(i) a fluorophore of Formula (I) or Formula (II); and

(ii) a chelating moiety covalently joined, to the fluorophore,

wherein Formula (I) is:

and wherein:

R 1 is the site of a covalent attachment, optionally through a linker, of the sensitizer moiety to the chelating moiety;

R 2 is a linear alkylene (C 1 -C 20 ) a branched alkylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkylene (C 3 -C 10 ), a linear alkenylene (C 2 -C 20 ), a branched alkenylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkenylene (C 3 -C 10 ), a linear alkynylene (C 2 -C 20 ), a branched alkynylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkynylene (C 3 -C 10 ), an arene (C 6 -C 19 ), an alkylarene having a C 1 -C 20 alkyl portion and a C 6 -C 19 arene portion, a linear (C 1 -C 20 ) alkoxylene, a branched (C 3 -C 20 ) alkoxylene, a linear heteroalkylene (2-20 atoms), a branched heteroalkylene (3-20 atoms), or a cyclic heteroalkylene (3-10 atoms), wherein at least one atom of the heteroalkylene is N or O; and wherein the linear, branched, or cyclic alkylene, alkenylene, alkynylene, heteroalkylene, arene, alkylarene, or alkoxylene moieties are optionally further substituted with from 1-4 halogen atoms;

R 3 is a linear alkylene (C 1 -C 20 ) a branched alkylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkylene (C 3 -C 10 ), a linear alkenylene (C 2 -C 20 ), a branched alkenylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkenylene (C 3 -C 10 ), a linear alkynylene (C 2 -C 20 ), a branched alkynylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkynylene (C 3 -C 10 ), an arene (C 6 -C 19 ), an alkylarene having a C 1 -C 20 alkyl portion and a C 6 -C 19 arene portion, a linear (C 1 -C 20 ) alkoxylene, a branched (C 3 -C 20 ) alkoxylene, a linear heteroalkylene (2-20 atoms), a branched heteroalkylene (3-20 atoms), or a cyclic heteroalkylene (3-10 atoms), wherein at least one atom of the heteroalkylene is N or O; and wherein the linear, branched, or cyclic alkylene, alkenylene, alkynylene, heteroalkylene, arene, alkylarene, or alkoxylene moieties are optionally further substituted with from 1-4 halogen atoms;

R 4 is H; a linear alkylene (C 1 -C 20 ) a branched alkylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkylene (C 3 -C 10 ), a linear alkenylene (C 2 -C 20 ), a branched alkenylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkenylene (C 3 -C 10 ), a linear alkynylene (C 2 -C 20 ), a branched alkynylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkynylene (C 3 -C 10 ), an arene (C 6 -C 19 ), an alkylarene having a C 1 -C 20 alkyl portion and a C 6 -C 19 arene portion, a linear (C 1 -C 20 ) alkoxylene, a branched (C 3 -C 20 ) alkoxylene, a linear heteroalkylene (2-20 atoms), a branched heteroalkylene (3-20 atoms), or a cyclic heteroalkylene (3-10 atoms), wherein at least one atom of the heteroalkylene is N, O, or S; and wherein the linear, branched, or cyclic alkylene, alkenylene, alkynylene, heteroalkylene, arene, alkylarene, or alkoxylene moieties are optionally further substituted with from 1-4 halogen atoms;

wherein R 2 , R 3 , or R 4 optionally further contain a cross-linking group selected from the group consisting of nitrogen mustard, epoxide, maleimide, disulfide, activated ester, imidate, azide, acetylenic derivatives, aldehydes, sulfonyl chlorides, acylazides, and acylhydrazides;

and wherein Formula (II) is:

and wherein:

R 1 is the site of a covalent attachment, optionally through a linker, of the sensitizer moiety to the chelating moiety;

R 5 is H; a linear alkylene (C 1 -C 20 ) a branched alkylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkylene (C 3 -C 10 ), a linear alkenylene (C 2 -C 20 ), a branched alkenylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkenylene (C 3 -C 10 ), a linear alkynylene (C 2 -C 20 ), a branched alkynylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkynylene (C 3 -C 10 ), an arene (C 6 -C 19 ), an alkylarene having a C 1 -C 20 alkyl portion and a C 6 -C 19 arene portion, a linear heteroalkylene (2-20 atoms), a branched heteroalkylene (3-20 atoms), or a cyclic heteroalkylene (3-10 atoms), wherein at least one atom of the heteroalkylene is N, O, or S; and wherein the linear, branched, or cyclic alkylene, alkenylene, alkynylene, heteroalkylene, arene, or alkylarene moieties are optionally further substituted with from 1-4 halogen atoms;

R 6 is a linear alkylene (C 1 -C 20 ) a branched alkylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkylene (C 3 -C 10 ), a linear alkenylene (C 2 -C 20 ), a branched alkenylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkenylene (C 3 -C 10 ), a linear alkynylene (C 2 -C 20 ), a branched alkynylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkynylene (C 3 -C 10 ), an arene (C 6 -C 19 ), an alkylarene having a C 1 -C 20 alkyl portion and a C 6 -C 19 arene portion, a linear heteroalkylene (2-20 atoms), a branched heteroalkylene (3-20 atoms), or a cyclic heteroalkylene (3-10 atoms), wherein at least one atom of the heteroalkylene is N, O, or S; and wherein the linear, branched, or cyclic alkylene, alkenylene, alkynylene, heteroalkylene, arene, or alkylarene moieties are optionally further substituted with from 1-4 halogen atoms;

R 7 is H; a linear alkylene (C 1 -C 20 ) a branched alkylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkylene (C 3 -C 10 ), a linear alkenylene (C 2 -C 20 ), a branched alkenylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkenylene (C 3 -C 10 ), a linear alkynylene (C 2 -C 20 ), a branched alkynylene (C 3 -C 20 ), a cyclic alkynylene (C 3 -C 10 ), an arene (C 6 -C 19 ), an alkylarene having a C 1 -C 20 alkyl portion and a C 6 -C 19 arene portion, a linear heteroalkylene (2-20 atoms), a branched heteroalkylene (3-20 atoms), or a cyclic heteroalkylene (3-10 atoms), wherein at least one atom of the heteroalkylene is N, O, or S; and wherein the linear, branched, or cyclic alkylene, alkenylene, alkynylene, heteroalkylene, arene, or alkylarene moieties are optionally further substituted with from 1-4 halogen atoms;

wherein R 5 , R 6 , or R 7 optionally further contain a cross-linking group selected from the group consisting of nitrogen mustard, epoxide, maleimide, disulfide, activated ester, imidate, azide, acetylenic, aldehydes, sulfonyl chlorides, acylazides, and acylhydrazides.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein R 2 is selected from the group consisting of CF 3 , CH 3 , and O—CH 2 CH 3 .

3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein R 3 is selected from the group consisting of O—CH 2 CH 3 and O—(CH 2 ) 3 —N 3 .

4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein R 4 is selected from the group consisting of H, CH 2 C(O)NH—(CH 2 ) 4 —N═C═S, and CH 2 C(O)NH—(CH 2 ) 4 —NHC(O)CH 2 Br.

5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein R 5 is selected from the group consisting of alkylene, heteroalkylene and alkylarylene groups, which further contain a crosslinking group selected from the group consisting of maleimide, disulfide, activated ester, azide and acetylene.

6. The compostion of claim 5 , wherein R 5 is

7. The composition of claim 1 , wherein R 6 is selected from the group consisting of alkylene, heteroalkylene and alkylarylene groups, which further contain a crosslinking group selected from the group consisting of maleimide, disulfide, activated ester, azide and acetylene.

8. The composition of claim 1 , wherein R 7 is selected from the group consisting of alkylene, heteroalkylene and alkylarylene groups, which further contain a crosslinking group selected from the group consisting of maleimide, disulfide, activated ester, azide and acetylene.

9. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the fluorophore has the formula:

and wherein:

Y is a chelating moiety; and

X is selected from the group consisting of maleimide, disulfide, activated ester, azide, and acetylene groups, optionally linked via a heteroalkylene group.

10. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the fluorophore has the formula:

and wherein:

Y is a chelating moiety; and

X is selected from the group consisiting of alkylene, heteroalkylene and alkylarylene groups, which further contain a crosslinking group selected from the group consisting of maleimide, disulfide, activated ester, azide and acetylene.

11. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the fluorophore has the formula:

and wherein:

Y is chelating moiety; and

X is selected from the group consisiting of alkylene, heteroalkylene and alkylarylene groups, which further contain a crosslinking group selected from the group consisting of maleimide, disulfide, activated ester, azide and acetylene.

12. The compostion of claim 11 , wherein X is

13. The luminescent probe composition of claim 1 , wherein the chelating moiety is selected from the group consisting of EDTA, DTPA, TTHA, DOTA, TAGA, DOTP, DTPA-BMA, DO2P, and HP-DO3A.

14. The composition of claim 1 further comprising a metal ion chelated to the chelating moiety, wherein the metal is a lanthanide selected from the group consisting of: Gd(III), Dy(III), Ho(III), Er(III), Eu(III), Tb(III), Sm(III), Ce(III), Pr(III), Yb(III), Tm(III), Nd(III), and Tb(IV).

15. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition is conjugated to a macromolecule, wherein the macromolecule is selected from the group consisting of a polypeptide and an aptamer with binding affinity to a predetermined peptide target.

16. The composition of claim 15 , wherein the macromolecule is a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of an antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof, a ligand for a cellular receptor, avidin, and streptavidin.

17. The composition of claim 15 , wherein the macromolecule is a nucleic acid.

18. A pharmaceutical composition comprising the composition of claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

19. A luminescently labeled hairpin-forming oligonucleotide consisting of:

(a) the luminescent composition of claim 1 ;

wherein the R 1 chelating moiety is selected from the group consisting of EDTA, DTPA, TTHA, DOTA, TAGA, DOTP, DTPA-BMA, DO2P, and HP-DO3A; and

wherein the luminescent composition further comprises a lanthanide chelated to the chelating moiety, the lanthanide selected from the group consisting of: Gd(III), Dy(III), Ho(III), Er(III), Eu(III), Tb(III), Sm(III), Ce(III), Pr(III), Yb(III), Tm(III), Nd(III), and Tb(IV);

the luminescent composition covalently conjugated to a hairpin-forming oligonucleotide; and

(b) a quencher moiety capable of quenching the fluorescence of the fluorophore or the luminescence of the lanthanide moiety, wherein the quencher moiety is covalently conjugated to the hairpin-forming oligonucleotide;

the oligonucleotide having a closed conformation including a single-stranded loop and a stem duplex formed by complementary 3′ and 5′ arms, wherein the quencher moiety is in a quenching relationship to at least one of the lanthanide moiety or the fluorophore; wherein, when excited at the maximum excitation wavelength of the fluorophore, emission at the maximum emission wavelength of the fluorophore is substantially suppressed relative to the unquenched magnitude and emission at the maximum emission wavelength of the fluorophore; and

the oligonucleotide having an open conformation, not including the stem duplex, in which the quencher moiety is not in a quenching relationship with the lanthanide or the fluorophore;

wherein, when excited at the maximum excitation wavelength of one or both of the first and second sensitizer moieties, the luminescence of the lanthanide moiety increases due to fluorescence resonance energy transfer from the fluorophore.

20. The oligonucleotide of claim 19 , wherein hybridization of said loop to a target nucleotide sequence causes the oligunucleotide to assume its open configuration.

21. The oligonucleotide of claim 20 , wherein the quencher moiety is selected from the group consisting of BHQ, DABCYL, and variants of DABCYL.

22. The oligonucleotide of claim 20 , wherein the single-stranded loop and one strand of the stem duplex is complementary to the target strand, whereby the oligonucleotide is capable of serving as a primer for DNA polymerase.

23. The oligonucleotide of claim 19 , wherein said oligonucleotide includes a terminal extension capable of serving as a priming region for a DNA polymerase when the olignucleotide is in its closed conformation.