State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130022, Jilin, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
Sci Rep. 2017 May 11;7(1):1759. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-01956-1.
Single-cell pH-sensing and accurate detection and label-free fast identification of cancer-cells are two long-standing pursuits in cell and life science, as intracellular pH plays a crucial role in many cellular events and fates, while the latter is vital for early cancer theranostics. Numerous methods based on functionalized nanoparticles and fluorescence probes have been developed for cell pH-sensing, but are often hindered for single-cell studies by their main drawbacks of complicated probe preparation and labeling, low sensitivity and poor reproducibility. Here we report a simple and reliable method for single-cell pH imaging and sensing by innovative combined use of UV-Vis microspectroscopy and common pH indicators. Accurate and sensitive pH detection on single-cell or sub-cell level with good reproducibility is achieved by the method, which enables facile single-cell pH profiling and label-free rapid identification of cancer-cells (due to distinguishable intracellular pH levels) for early cancer diagnosis, and may open a new avenue for pH-related single-cell studies.
单细胞 pH 传感以及对癌细胞的准确检测和无标记快速识别是细胞和生命科学中长期以来的两个追求目标，因为细胞内 pH 在许多细胞事件和命运中起着至关重要的作用，而后者对于癌症早期的治疗诊断至关重要。已经开发出了许多基于功能化纳米粒子和荧光探针的方法来进行细胞 pH 传感，但由于其探针制备和标记复杂、灵敏度低以及重现性差等主要缺点，通常会对单细胞研究造成阻碍。在这里，我们报告了一种通过创新地结合使用紫外-可见微光谱和常见 pH 指示剂来进行单细胞 pH 成像和传感的简单可靠的方法。该方法可以实现对单细胞或亚细胞水平的准确和灵敏的 pH 检测，具有良好的重现性，可用于简便的单细胞 pH 分析以及对癌细胞（由于细胞内 pH 水平不同）的无标记快速识别，从而实现癌症的早期诊断，并且可能为与 pH 相关的单细胞研究开辟新途径。
