Voltage-Probe · Optical Probes for Membrane Potential via Photoinduced Electron Transfer

This project is concerned with supramolecular chemistry and the molecular engineering of optical fluorescent probes for sensing the voltages across plasma membranes in excitable cells such as neurones. The project is a combination of molecular design, organic synthesis, physical organic chemistry, spectroscopy and photobiology. The idea is to establish a competition between fluorescence and photoinduced electron transfer; the relative rates of these two processes will be sensitive to the electric field, thus the brightness of the fluorescence will provide a map of the voltage.The project builds on three areas of expertise in Anderson’s group: (a) synthesis and photophysics of functional dyes; (b) molecular wires and (c) design and synthesis of probes for membrane potential in lipid bilayers based on second harmonic generation.Patrik Neuhaus has an exceptionally strong background in spectroscopy and physical organic chemistry. He also has the knowledge of organic synthesis to make rapid progress with this project. However he has no previous experience of investigating the behavior of compounds in lipid membranes. This project will provide him with high-level training in an important and topical field, while enabling him to broaden his horizons.