Li Yiling, Yi Shuxiao, Lei Zhongli, Xiao Yan
Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials Co-constructed by the Province and Ministry, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hubei University Wuhan 430062 China
RSC Adv. 2021 Apr 20;11(24):14678-14685. doi: 10.1039/d1ra01634b. eCollection 2021 Apr 15.
It is of vital importance to develop probes to monitor hypochlorous acid (HClO) in biological systems as HClO is associated with many important physiological and pathological processes. Metal nanoclusters (NCs) are promising luminescent nanomaterials for highly reactive oxygen species (hROS) detection on the basis of their strong reaction ability with hROS. However, metal NCs typically can respond to most common hROS and are susceptible to etching by biothiols, hindering their application in the construction of effective HClO probes. Herein, we proposed a strategy to develop a nanoprobe based on Au NCs for highly sensitive and selective detection of HClO. We synthesized luminescent benzyl mercaptan-stabilized Au NCs and encapsulated them with an amphiphilic polymer (DSPE-PEG). After encapsulation, an obvious emission enhancement and good resistance to the etching by biothiols for Au NCs were achieved. More importantly, the DSPE-PEG encapsulated Au NCs can be used as a nanoprobe for detection of HClO with good performance. The luminescence of the Au NCs was effectively and selectively quenched by HClO. A good linear relationship with the concentration of HClO in the range of 5-35 μM and a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.4 μM were obtained. Additionally, this nanoprobe was successfully used for bioimaging and monitoring of HClO changes in live cells, suggesting the application potential of the as-prepared amphiphilic polymer-encapsulated Au NCs for further HClO-related biomedical research.
开发用于监测生物系统中次氯酸（HClO）的探针至关重要，因为HClO与许多重要的生理和病理过程相关。金属纳米团簇（NCs）因其与高活性氧（hROS）的强反应能力，是用于hROS检测的有前途的发光纳米材料。然而，金属NCs通常能对大多数常见的hROS作出反应，且易被生物硫醇蚀刻，这阻碍了它们在构建有效的HClO探针中的应用。在此，我们提出了一种基于金纳米团簇开发纳米探针以高灵敏和选择性检测HClO的策略。我们合成了发光的苄基硫醇稳定的金纳米团簇，并用两亲聚合物（DSPE-PEG）将其封装。封装后，金纳米团簇实现了明显的发射增强以及对生物硫醇蚀刻的良好抗性。更重要的是，DSPE-PEG封装的金纳米团簇可作为检测HClO的纳米探针，性能良好。金纳米团簇的发光被HClO有效且选择性地猝灭。在5-35μM范围内与HClO浓度呈现良好的线性关系，检测限（LOD）为1.4μM。此外，该纳米探针成功用于活细胞中HClO变化的生物成像和监测，表明所制备的两亲聚合物封装的金纳米团簇在进一步的HClO相关生物医学研究中的应用潜力。
