An electroanalysis strategy for glutathione in cells based on the displacement reaction route using melamine-copper nanocomposites synthesized by the controlled supermolecular self-assembly.

An electroanalysis strategy has been developed for probing glutathione (GSH) separately in hela and yeast cells based on the displacement reaction route using melamine-copper (MA-Cu) nanocomposites. Herein, MA-Cu nanocomposites were initially synthesized by the controlled supermolecular self-assembly process showing various morphological structures depending on the MA-to-Cu ratios used. It was discovered that the electrodes modified with rod-like MA-Cu nanocomposites could achieve the stable electrochemical output of solid-state CuCl at a low potential, which might circumvent the possible interference from co-existing electroactive substances in complicated backgrounds like cells. More importantly, the yielded CuCl signals would decrease selectively induced by GSH through the specific Cu-GSH interaction that would trigger the displacement of CuCl into non-electroactive complex. The MA-Cu nanorods-modified electrodes can allow for the detection of GSH with the concentrations linearly ranging from 0.010 to 300.0 μM. Subsequently, the feasibility of the developed electroanalysis strategy was demonstrated for the evaluation of GSH separately in the extractions of hela and yeast cells, promising the wide applications in the clinical and food analysis fields.