posted on 2021-01-22, 03:03authored byWenying Mi, Shuang Tang, Yan Jin, Na Shao
Metal
nanoclusters, widely used as fluorescent probes in biosensing
and bioimaging, still suffer from some barriers, such as low quantum
yield, impurities, and poor sensitivity. Developing nanocluster-based
fluorescent probes with good performance and a facile separation method
for the synthesized nanoclusters to improve the sensing ability is
of great importance. Herein, we reported a convenient approach to
purify Au/Ag bimetallic nanoclusters stabilized by dual ligands of
GSH and lysozyme (GSH-Lys@Ag-AuNCs) via isoelectric point precipitation,
and the purified GSH-Lys@Ag-AuNCs exhibited an improved sensing sensitivity
and linear range to the Fenton reagent (H2O2 + Fe2+). The fluorescence intensity ratio of F440/F640 was linear
to the H2O2 concentration over the wide range
of 0.2–500 μmol L–1 (R2 = 0.97), with a low detection limit of 0.05 μmol
L–1. Utilizing the catalytic oxidation reaction
of the substrate under a specific oxidase by producing H2O2, the probe was further employed to glucose and uric
acid assays with satisfactory results in human serum samples. Additionally,
fluorescence confocal imaging experiments were performed to monitor
the fluctuation of the •OH level in living cells,
and the fluorescence intensity ratio of the blue channel to the red
channel showed excellent ratiometric changes with the •OH contents.