State Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources, College of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China.
Nanoscale. 2019 May 16;11(19):9270-9275. doi: 10.1039/c9nr01809c.
Ratiometric fluorescence imaging can decrease or even eliminate the influences of the microenvironment, localized probe distribution, and instrumental parameters, thereby permitting more accurate monitoring of intracellular molecular events. Therefore, developing ratiometric fluorescent nanoprobes is highly important. In this study, we proposed a distinctive approach by combining solvent extraction with a solvothermal method to synthesize novel biomass-derived carbon-based quantum dots (termed as biomass quantum dots, BQDs) with single-excitation and dual-emission properties, using chlorophyll extracted from pakchoi and polyoxyethylene bisamine as raw materials. The obtained BQDs emit blue and red emissions centered at 488 nm and 678 nm respectively under single 413 nm excitation. Low cytotoxicity and unique optical features make the obtained BQDs potentially useful in bio-application as ratiometric fluorescent probes. Taking advantage of these merits, we employ the obtained BQDs for the near-infrared ratiometric fluorescence detection of coenzyme A (CoA) by the assistance of copper ions. This ratiometric approach shows a good sensitivity and selectivity, and the ratiometric fluorescence imaging of CoA in living cells is also achieved.
比率荧光成像可以减少甚至消除微环境、局部探针分布和仪器参数的影响，从而可以更准确地监测细胞内分子事件。因此，开发比率荧光纳米探针非常重要。在本研究中，我们提出了一种独特的方法，通过结合溶剂萃取和溶剂热法，以从白菜中提取的叶绿素和聚氧乙烯双胺为原料，合成具有单激发和双发射特性的新型生物质衍生碳量子点（称为生物质量子点，BQDs）。所得 BQDs 在 413nm 单激发下分别发出 488nm 和 678nm 处的蓝色和红色发射。低细胞毒性和独特的光学特性使所得 BQDs 有可能作为比率荧光探针在生物应用中得到应用。利用这些优点，我们在铜离子的辅助下，利用所得的 BQDs 进行辅酶 A（CoA）的近红外比率荧光检测。这种比率方法具有良好的灵敏度和选择性，并且还实现了活细胞中 CoA 的比率荧光成像。
