Supramolecular receptors for the recognition and discrimination of epigenetically modified lysines

One focus of this presentation is on a water-soluble macrocycle and its ability to recognize differently methylated lysines. The results show that the host molecule discriminates lower methylated lysines, while higher methylated ones bind rather selectively. Binding studies were carried out with respectively methylated lysines using NMR spectroscopy and our findings have been analyzed by energy-minimization calculations. A second focus is on macrocycles with intrinsic fluorescence. We suggested the name ‘fluorescophane’ for such macrocyclic compounds. By inserting a condensed aromatic system, the resulting receptor is envisaged to enable better C?H···? and cation···? interactions with a respective alkyl ammonium ion and at the same time allow an efficient quantification of host/guest interactions.