Analytical determination of n-acetylneuraminic acid and serotonin using various techniques and computational insights into their selective interaction

Date

2025-11-25

Author

Avcı, Begüm

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Sialic acids are a diverse family of neuraminic acid, most commonly represented by N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac), that play critical roles in cellular communication. Sialic acids have recognition for many biomolecules by forming specific binding sites, and one of the most important biological entities is serotonin (5-HT), which is a neurotransmitter and hormone produced in several locations. The serotonin recognizing group on glycosides is Neu5Ac, whose highly selective interaction is noncovalent. In this study, a colorimetric method for the quantitative determination of Neu5Ac using serotonin-functionalized gold nanoparticles (Ser-AuNPs) was developed. The proposed method exhibits high selectivity with a low dynamic range, 10 - 96 µM, and a detection limit of 3.6 µM with promising recovery ranging between 103.5 and 106.9 %. Moreover, a highly sensitive method having a detection limit of 4.85 nM, linear response in the range of 0.01–0.1 µM with 89.1% and 103.6 % recoveries was established for serotonin based on Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) spectrometry, utilizing the selective interaction of serotonin and Neu5Ac. To clarify the underlying mechanism of this selective interaction between Neu5Ac and serotonin, theoretical computational studies have been conducted, and the binding properties of potentially interfering molecules, dopamine and L-tryptophan for serotonin, and fructose and mannose for Neu5Ac, were examined. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were performed based on various initial configurations to identify the lowest-energy pairwise interactions between molecules. This study not only investigates the interactions between sialic acids and serotonin through analytical methods but also highlights their potential effects on biological systems.

Subject Keywords

N-acetylneuraminic acid, Serotonin, Colorimetric determination, Surface-enhanced raman scattering (SERS) spectrometry, Density functional theory (DFT)

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https://hdl.handle.net/11511/117422

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Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis