Influenza can cause acute respiratory diseases. The re-occurrence of influenza leads to a global concern that viral pandemics may occur unpredictably. However, conventional tools for influenza virus detection suffers from long detection time, complicated detection procedures and high cost.

    In a recent communication published in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (doi: 10.1002/anie.201606488), researchers at ECUST developed a simple glycofoldamer probe based on the installation of sialyl glcans (which can be recognized by the hemagglutinin on the surface of influenza viruses) to a foldable fluorogenic probe. While the glycofoldamers show minimal fluorescence in buffer solution, the presence of influenza viruses rapidly elicits its fluorescence by unfolding the probe. Interestingly, the glycofoldamer can identify the human- and avian-infecting properties of different influenza virus strains in a high-throughput manner, thereby providing a useful tool for the effective surveillance of influenza pandemics.
    To elaborate the glycofoldamer-protein interaction, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) was used. The technique performed suggests a concentration-dependent oligomerization of sugar-recognition proteins by the glycofoldamer (Chem. Sci. 2016, 7, 6325). The probe developed has also proven amenable to immobilizing onto the surface of gold nanoparticles for targeted cancer cell theranostics (Chem. Sci. 2016, 7, 4004).