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A turn-on fluorescent lysine nanoprobe based on the use of the Alizarin Red aluminum(III) complex conjugated to graphene oxide, and its application to cellular imaging of lysine

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Abstract

The authors describe a rationally designed nanoprobe for the fluorometric determination of lysine. It is based on a ternary complex consisting of graphene oxide, aluminum ions (acting as a bridging agent), and alizarin red (GO-Al-AR). The fluorescence of the complex (with excitation/emission maxima at 440/512 nm) is weak but significantly enhanced upon the addition of lysine, probably due to a photoinduced electron transfer signalling mechanism. The method has a detection limit of 2 mg L−1 of lysine and a linear range from 25 mg L−1 to 250 mg L−1. It was applied to image lysine in human retinal pigment epithelium cells.

Schematic of a fluorescent nanosensor composed of graphene oxide, aluminum (III) ions and Alizarin Red to image lysine in human retinal pigment epithelium cells.

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Acknowledgements

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (21405115, 51202167), the National “Thousand Talents Program”, the Wenzhou Bureau of Science and Technology (Y20120218), the technology project of Zhejiang Province Medical and Health Project (2015KYB254, 2017KY492) and Ophthalmology & Optometry of Wenzhou Medical University (YNCX201408) are acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Advanced Materials for Nano-Bio Applications, School of Ophthalmology & Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, 270 Xueyuan Xi Road, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325027, China

    Rumei Cheng, Yu Peng, Congcong Ge, Yexu Bu, Hongyan Liu, Huiying Huang, Yuhua Xue & Liming Dai

  2. Hangzhou Zheda Femtosecond Inspection Co. Ltd., Zhejiang University National Science Park, 525 Xixi Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310013, China

    Shengju Ou

  3. Center of Advanced Science and Engineering for Carbon (Case4Carbon), Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA

    Liming Dai

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  1. Rumei Cheng
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  2. Yu Peng
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  3. Congcong Ge
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  4. Yexu Bu
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  5. Hongyan Liu
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  9. Liming Dai
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Correspondence to Yuhua Xue.

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Cheng, R., Peng, Y., Ge, C. et al. A turn-on fluorescent lysine nanoprobe based on the use of the Alizarin Red aluminum(III) complex conjugated to graphene oxide, and its application to cellular imaging of lysine. Microchim Acta 184, 3521–3528 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2375-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2375-0

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