College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, People's Republic of China.
Cancer Centre and Centre of Reproduction, Development and Aging, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, Macau SAR 999078, People's Republic of China.
Nanotechnology. 2021 Mar 24;32(24). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/abea38.
Intracellular pH plays a significant role in all cell activities. Due to their precise imaging capabilities, fluorescent probes have attracted much attention for the investigation of pH-regulated processes. Detecting intracellular pH values with high throughput is critical for cell research and applications. In this work, hybrid semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots) were developed and characterized and were applied for cell imaging and exclusive ratiometric sensing of intracellular pH values. The reported Pdots were prepared by blending a synthesized block polymer (P) and a semiconducting polymer poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEHPPV) to construct a fluorescence resonance energy transfer system for ratiometric sensing. Pdots showed many advantages, including high brightness, excellent photostability and biocompatibility, giving the pH probe high sensitivity and good stability. Our results proved the capability of P-MEHPPV Pdots for the detection of pH in living cells.
细胞内 pH 值对所有细胞活动都起着重要作用。由于荧光探针具有精确的成像能力，因此受到了广泛关注，可用于研究 pH 调节过程。高通量检测细胞内 pH 值对于细胞研究和应用至关重要。在这项工作中，我们开发并表征了杂化半导体聚合物点（Pdots），并将其应用于细胞成像和细胞内 pH 值的比值型感应。所报道的 Pdots 是通过混合合成的嵌段聚合物（P）和半导体聚合物聚[2-甲氧基-5-（2-乙基己氧基）-1,4-亚苯基乙烯基]（MEHPPV）制备的，以构建用于比值型感应的荧光共振能量转移系统。Pdots 具有许多优点，包括高亮度、优异的光稳定性和生物相容性，使 pH 探针具有高灵敏度和良好的稳定性。我们的结果证明了 P-MEHPPV Pdots 用于检测活细胞中 pH 值的能力。
