Ratiometric QD-FRET Sensing of Aqueous H₂S in Vitro

Abstract

We report a platform for the ratiometric fluorescent sensing of the endogenously generated gaseous transmitter H2S in its aqueous form (bisulfide, or hydrogen sulfide anion) based on the alteration of Förster resonance energy transfer from an emissive semiconductor quantum dot (QD) donor to a dithiol-linked organic dye acceptor. The disulfide bridge between the two chromophores is cleaved upon exposure to bisulfide, resulting in termination of FRET as the dye diffuses away from the QD. This results in enhanced QD emission and dye quenching. The resulting ratiometric response can be correlated quantitatively to the concentration of bisulfide, and was found to have a detection limit as low as 1.36 ± 0.03 μM. The potential for use in biological applications was demonstrated by measuring the response of the QD-based FRET sensor microinjected into live HeLa cells upon extracellular exposure to bisulfide. The methodology used here is built upon a highly multifunctional platform that offers numerous advantages such as low detection limit, enhanced photochemical stability, and sensing ability within a biological milieu.

Determination of Hydrogen Sulfide in Wines Based on Chemical-Derivatization-Triggered Aggregation-Induced Emission by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorescence Detection

“…To date, many different analysis methods have been reported for the detection of H 2 S, such as colorimetric and electrochemical analysis, − gas chromatography, , high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection (HPLC–FLD), , and HPLC-mass analysis after chemical derivatization. , Among these methods, HPLC–FLD is an effective approach for the determination of H 2 S owing to its superior features, such as good repeatability, low sample volume and limit of detection, and high sensitivity and selectivity. − The derivatization of H 2 S is necessary prior to HPLC–FLD analysis since the direct detection of H 2 S is hampered. As reported, many derivatization reagents have been successfully developed to derivatize H 2 S previously, such as monobromobimane (MBB) and its isomer 3-(bromomethyl)-2,6,7-trimethyl-1H,5H-pyrazolo­[1,2- a ]­pyrazole-1,5-dione (MMB) , and 2-iodoacetanilide (2-IAN). , Unsatisfactorily, these reagents used for the detection of H 2 S have some drawbacks.…”

A Visible Colorimetric Fluorescent Probe for Hydrogen Sulfide Detection in Wine

“…Recently, fluorescent probes have been considered a practical tool for H 2 S detection [21–24]. The H 2 S fluorescent probes are designed by some approaches, such as sulfide-induced precipitation of quantum dots [25, 26], reduction of azide and nitro group to amines [27–32], substitution reaction [33], nucleophilic reactions [34, 35], high adsorption of S 2− to Cu 2+ [36], and the reaction with the unsaturated double bond [37]. Recently, different kinds of fluorescent probes have been designed and compounded to detect H 2 S in living cells, and development of efficient and practical sensors to detect H 2 S in wine is still crucial [38].…”

A Reaction‐Based Novel Fluorescent Probe for Detection of Hydrogen Sulfide and Its Application in Wine

“…Fluorescent probes have been suggested as an effective alternative to these traditional techniques, with advantages of high selectively and sensitivity, operational simplicity, short response time, and real‐time detection (Zhou and others ; Ding and others , ; Wang and others ). Recently, numerous types of H 2 S fluorescent probes have been developed based on chemistries including unique dual nucleophilic reaction (Wang and others ), reduction of an azide group or the nitro group (Chen and others ; Han and others ; Huang and others ; Jin and others ; Zhang and others ; Ding and others ; Liu and others ; Wang and others ; Zhou and others ), high binding affinity with Cu 2+ complexes (Sasakura and others ), sulfide‐induced precipitation of quantum dots (Wu and others ; Shamirian and others ), thiolysis of dinitro‐phenyl ether (Cao and others ; Liu and others ; Huang and others ; Liu and Feng ; Zhang and others ), and substitution reaction (Liu and others ). However, most of these fluorescent probes are used for biological imaging (Zhou and others ); the development of a practical and efficient fluorescent probe to detect H 2 S in wine is needed.…”