Search

The proposition of ratiometric detection mode has demonstrated great superiority in improving analysis accuracy by forming self-calibration. Herein, the novel dual-reverse-signal ratiometric fluorescence detection for malachite green (MG) was first achieved based on synergistic effect of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and inner filter effect (IFE). The ratiometric fluorescence probe (B-RCDs) was self-assembled via electrostatic attraction between blue-emission carbon dots (BCDs) and red-emission carbon dots (RCDs), followed with FRET effect from BCDs to RCDs and exhibited dual-emission at 450 nm and 627 nm. In the presence of MG, the IFE effect between MG and RCDs quenched the fluorescence at 627 nm and restored the fluorescence at 450 nm, sending out two reverse signals along with an obvious color change from pink to purple (302 nm UV lamp). This ratiometric method not only simplified the preparation process, but also improved the detection sensitivity, showing a low limit of detection (LOD) of 41.8 nM, which exhibited superiority than that of single-signal RCDs (157.3 nM). This method held a rapid response of 10 min and represented satisfactory recoveries (99.14%-109.08%) in real water samples, revealing it was a promising candidate in the fast, sensitive and practical detection of MG. Moreover, the design of synergistic effect supplied a new perspective for the development of ratiometric sensing in the future., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A carbon dots-embedded epitope imprinted polymer (C-MIP) was fabricated for targeted fluorescence imaging of cervical cancer by specifically recognizing the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The core-shell C-MIP was prepared by a reverse microemulsion polymerization method. This method used silica nanoparticles embedded with carbon dots as carriers, acrylamide as the main functional monomer, and N-terminal nonapeptides of EGFR modified by palmitic acid as templates. A series of characterizations (transmission electron microscope, dynamic light scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, zeta potential, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) prove the successful synthesis of C-MIP. The fluorescence of C-MIP is quenched by the epitopes of EGFR due to the specific recognition of epitopes of EGFR through their imprinted cavities (analytical excitation/emission wavelengths, 540 nm/610 nm). The linear range of fluorescence quenching is 2.0 to 15.0 μg mL -1 and the determination limit is 0.73 μg mL -1 . The targeted imaging capabilities of C-MIP are demonstrated through in vitro and in vivo experiments. The laser confocal imaging results indicate that HeLa cells (over-expression EGFR) incubated with C-MIP show stronger fluorescence than that of MCF-7 cells (low-expression EGFR), revealing that C-MIP can target tumor cells overexpressing EGFR. The results of imaging experiments in tumor-bearing mice exhibit that C-MIP has a better imaging effect than C-NIP, which further proves the targeted imaging ability of C-MIP in vivo. Graphical abstract An oriented epitope imprinted polymer embedded with carbon dots was prepared for the determination of the epitopes of epidermal growth factor receptor and targeted fluorescence imaging of cervical cancer.

A novel fluorescent sensor nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs)/SiO 2 /molecular imprinting polymer（N-GQDs/SiO 2 /MIP）was fabricated by surface imprinting and epitope imprinting to recognize and detect the target protein cytochrome c (Cyt C) with fluorescence quenching. In the polymerization process, the C- and N-terminal nonapeptides of Cyt C were selected as the double templates which were fixed by functional monomer (zinc acrylate) through metal chelation and steady six-membered ring. The linear range of fluorescence quenching for this receptor towards Cyt C was 0.20-60μM, and the detection limit was 0.11μM. The precision for six times replicate determination of Cyt C at 30μM was 1.20%, and the imprinting factor (IF) was 3.06. The recoveries of the material to Cyt C in urine were 99.3-114.0%. In brief, this work proposed a strategy to prepare a new type fluorescent imprinting polymer based on N-GQDs and provided an attractive perspective for the detection of protein by using the combination of N-GQDs and molecular imprinting technique., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Mn(2+)-doped CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized directly via a facile surface doping strategy in aqueous solution. The best optical property emerged when the added amount of Mn(2+) was 5% compared to Cd(2+) in the CdTe nanoparticles and the reaction temperature was 60 °C. The fluorescence and magnetic properties of the QDs were studied. The as-prepared Mn(2+)-doped CdTe QDs have high quantum yield (48.13%) and a narrow distribution with an average diameter of 3.7 nm. The utility of biological imaging was also studied. Depending on the high quantum yield, cells in culture were illuminated and made more distinct from each other compared to results obtained with normal QDs. They also have a prominent longitudinal relaxivity value (r1= 4.2 mM(-1) s(-1)), which could indicate that the Mn(2+)-doped CdTe QDs can be used as a potential multimodal agent for fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging., (Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

A novel epitope molecularly imprinted polymer (EMIP) for specific recognition and direct fluorescent quantification of the target protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) was demonstrated where polymerization was performed on the surface of silica nanospheres embedded CdTe quantum dots (QDs). The synthetic peptide derived from the surface-exposed C-terminus of bovine serum albumin (BSA, residues 599-607) was selected as the template molecule. The resulting EMIP film was able to selectively capture the template peptide and the corresponding target protein BSA via the recognition cavities. Based on the fluorescence quenching, the EMIP-coated QDs (molecular imprinted polymer coating CdTe QDs using epitope as the template) nanospheres were successfully applied to the direct fluorescence quantification of BSA. Compared with BMIP-coated QDs (molecular imprinted polymer coating CdTe QDs using BSA as the template), the imprinting factor and adsorption capacity of EMIP-coated QDs were greatly increased. The prepared EMIP-coated QDs can also discriminate even one mismatched sequences from the original sequences of the epitope of the BSA. The practical analytical performance of the EMIP-coated QDs was examined by evaluating the detection of BSA in the bovine calf serum sample with satisfactory results. In addition, the resulting EMIP-coated QDs nanospheres were also successfully applied to separating BSA from the bovine blood sample., (© 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Due to their unique optical and biochemical properties, the water-soluble fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) have attracted a lot of attention recently. Here, strong fluorescent carbon dots with excellent quality have been synthesized by the hydrothermal refluxing method using lactose as carbon source and tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane (i.e. Tris) as surface passivation reagent. This facile approach was simple, efficient, economical, green without pollution, and allows large-scale production of CDs without any post-treatment. TEM measurements showed that the resulting particles exhibited an average diameter of 1.5 nm. The obtained CDs possess small particle sizes, good stability in a wide range of pH values (pH 3.5-9.5), high tolerance of salt concentration, strong resistibility to photobleaching, and a fluorescent quantum yield up to 12.5%. The CDs were applied to optical bioimaging of HeLa cells, showing low cytotoxicity and excellent biocompatibility., (© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Chemically denatured ovalbumin (dOB) was used to modify the surface of 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) stabilized CdTe quantum dots (QDs), which resulted in a great enhancement of the synchronous fluorescence intensity. Moreover, dOB shell layer can effectively prevent the binding of other cations onto the QDs core and enhance the selective binding ability of Hg(2+) to dOB coated CdTe QDs (CdTe-dOB QDs). A simple method with high sensitivity and selectivity was developed for the determination of Hg(2+) with the CdTe-dOB QDs as fluorescence probe based on the merits of synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (SFS). When scanning with excitation and emission wavelengths of 250 nm and 470 nm (Δλ=λ(em)-λ(ex)=220 nm), respectively, the maximum synchronous fluorescence peak of the CdTe-dOB QDs was located at 328 nm. Under optimal conditions, the change of the synchronous fluorescence intensity was in good linear relationship with the Hg(2+) concentration in the range of 0.08×10(-7) to 30.0×10(-7) mol L(-1) and the detection limit was 4.2×10(-9) mol L(-1) (S/N=3). The relative standard deviation of seven replicate measurements for the concentration of 2.0×10(-7) mol L(-1) and 20.0×10(-7) mol L(-1) were 2.8% and 2.3%, respectively. Compared with general fluorescence methods, the proposed method, which combined the advantages of high sensitivity of synchronous fluorescence and specific response of Hg(2+) to CdTe-dOB, had a wider linear range and higher sensitivity. Furthermore, the proposed method was applied to the determination of trace Hg(2+) in water samples with satisfactory results., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A thermo-sensitive imprinted polymer coating CdTe quantum dots was developed to prepare fluorescent thermo-sensitive protein-affinity materials, which exhibited high specific recognition ability towards target proteins., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012)

A newly designed molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) material was fabricated and successfully utilized as recognition element to develop a quantum dots (QDs) based MIP-coated composite for selective recognition of the template cytochrome c (Cyt). The composites were synthesized by sol-gel reaction (imprinting process). The imprinting process resulted in an increased affinity of the composites toward the corresponding template. The fluorescence of MIP-coated QDs was stronger quenched by the template versus that of non-imprinted polymer (NIP)-coated QDs, which indicated the composites could recognize the corresponding template. The results of specific experiments further exhibited the recognition ability of the composites. Under optimum conditions, the linear range for Cyt is from 0.97 μM to 24 μM, and the detection limit is 0.41 μM. The new composites integrated the high selectivity of molecular imprinting technology and fluorescence property of QDs and could convert the specific interactions between imprinted cavities and corresponding template to the obvious changes of fluorescence signal. Therefore, a simple and selective sensing system for protein recognition has been realized., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The thioglycolic acid-functionalized CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized in aqueous solution using safe and low-cost inorganic salts as precursors. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) system was constructed between CdTe QDs (donor) and butyl-rhodamine B (BRB) (acceptor) in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTMAB). CTMAB micelles formed in water reduced the distance between the donor and the acceptor significantly and thus improved the FRET efficiency, which resulted in an obvious fluorescence enhancement of the acceptor. Several factors which impacted the fluorescence spectra of the FRET system were studied. The energy transfer efficiency (E) and the distance (r) between CdTe and BRB were obtained. The feasibility of the prepared FRET system as fluorescence probe for detecting Hg(II) in aqueous solution was demonstrated. At pH 6.60, a linear relationship could be established between the quenched fluorescence intensity of BRB and the concentration of Hg(II) in the range of 0.0625-2.5micromolL(-1). The limit of detection was 20.3nmolL(-1). The developed method was proved to be sensitive and repeatable to detect Hg(II) in a wide range in aqueous solutions.

Epitope imprinted polymer nanoparticles (EI-NPs) were prepared by one-pot polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide in the presence of CdTe quantum dots and an epitope (consisting of amino acids 598 to 609) of human serum albumin (HSA). The resulting EI-NPs exhibit specific recognition ability and enable direct fluorescence quantification of HSA based on a fluorescence turn-on mode. The polymer was characterized by FT-IR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. The linear calibration graph was obtained in the range of 0.25-5 μmol · mL with the detection limit of 44.3 nmol · mL. The EI-NPs were successfully applied to the direct fluorometric quantification of HSA in samples of human serum. Overall, this approach provides a promising tool to design functional fluorescent materials with protein recognition capability and specific applications in proteomics. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new strategy for the manufacture of a turn-on fluorescent molecularly imprinted polymer (CdTe/SiO 2 /MIP) receptor for detecting tyrosine phosphopeptide (pTyr peptide) was proposed. The receptor was prepared by the surface imprinting procedure and the epitope approach with silica-capped CdTe quantum dots (QDs) as core substrate and fluorescent signal, phenylphosphonic acid (PPA) as the dummy template, 1-[3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl] urea as the functional monomer, and octyltrimethoxysilane as the cross-linker. The synthetic CdTe/SiO 2 /MIP was able to selectively capture the template PPA and corresponding target pTyr peptide with fluorescence enhancement via the special interaction between them and the recognition cavities. The receptor exhibited the linear fluorescence enhancement to pTyr peptide in the range of 0.5–35 μM, and the detection limit was 0.37 μM. The precision for five replicate detections of pTyr peptide at 20 μM was 2.60% (relative standard deviation). Combining the fluorescence property of the CdTe QDs with the merits of the surface imprinting technique and the epitope approach, the receptor not only owned high recognition site accessibility and good binding affinities for target pTyr peptide, but also improved the fluorescence selectivity of the CdTe QDs, as well revealed the feasibility of fabrication of a turn-on fluorescence probe using the surface imprinting procedure and the epitope approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new type of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based fluorescent artificial receptor was developed by anchoring MIP on the surface of denatured bovine serum albumin (dBSA) modified CdTe quantum dots (QDs) using the surface molecular imprinting process. The approach combined the merits of molecular imprinting technology and the fluorescent property of the CdTe QDs. The dBSA was used not only to modify the surface defects of the CdTe QDs, but also as assistant monomer to create effective recognition sites. Three different proteins, namely lysozyme (Lyz), cytochrome c (Cyt) and methylated bovine serum albumin (mBSA), were tested as the template molecules and then the receptors were synthesized by sol–gel reaction (imprinting process). The results of fluorescence and binding experiments demonstrated the recognition performance of the receptors toward the corresponding template. Under optimum conditions, the linear range for Lyz was from 1.4×10−8 to 8.5×10−6 M, and the detection limit was 6.8nM. Moreover, the new artificial receptors were applied to separate and detect Lyz in real samples. This fluorescent artificial receptor may serve as a starting point in the design of highly effective synthetic fluorescent receptor for recognition of target protein. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]