Zhao Manchun, Wang Ming, Liu Huajie, Liu Dongsheng, Zhang Guanxin, Zhang Deqing, Zhu Daoben
National Centre for Nanoscience and Technology, No. 11, Beiyitiao, Zhongguancun, Beijing 100190, PR China.
Langmuir. 2009 Jan 20;25(2):676-8. doi: 10.1021/la803762b.
In this letter, we have described the establishment of a label-free fluorometric assay to detect adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which can enable the monitoring of the ATP hydrolysis process continuously and in situ. This assay is based on a silole derivative with positively charged modifications, compound 1, that can aggregate on the negative charged ATP template through charge-charge interaction. Because the silole group has strong aggregation-induced fluorescence emission (AIE), we have found that the aggregation could induce strong fluorescence emission and its intensity is positively and linearly related to the ATP concentration. Meanwhile, 1 also shows good discrimination for ATP, where its hydrolysis products ADP, AMP, and adenosine could not induce sufficient aggregation to produce a strong fluorescence signal. These characteristics are sufficient to build up a sensitive fluorescence assay to monitor the ATP concentration change in solution in situ, and we have also verified its usability in studying the reaction process of phosphatase.
