The Development of a Continuous Intravascular Glucose Monitoring Sensor.

Background: Glycemic control in hospital intensive care units (ICU) has been the subject of numerous research publications and debate over the past 2 decades. There have been multiple studies showing the benefit of ICU glucose control in reducing both morbidity and mortality. GlySure Ltd has developed a glucose monitor based on a diboronic acid receptor that can continuously measure plasma glucose concentrations directly in a patient's vascular system.

Substituent effects in synthetic lectins--exploring the role of CH-π interactions in carbohydrate recognition.

Contacts between aromatic surfaces and saccharide CH groups are common motifs in natural carbohydrate recognition. These CH-π interactions are modeled in "synthetic lectins" which employ oligophenyl units as apolar surfaces. Here we report the synthesis and study of new synthetic lectins with fluoro- and hydroxy-substituted biphenyl units, designed to explore the role of π-electron density in carbohydrate CH-π interactions.

Carbohydrate sensing using a fluorescent molecular tweezer.

A fluorescent molecular tweezer for carbohydrates has been prepared which utilises two boronic acid receptor groups.

A synthetic lectin for O-linked beta-N-acetylglucosamine.

Changing employment: Receptor 1 binds beta-N-acetylglucosaminyl (beta-GlcNAc) up to 100 times more strongly than it does glucose. This synthetic lectin shows affinities similar to wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), a natural lectin used to bind GlcNAc. Remarkably, 1 is more selective than WGA.