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Gold nanocluster-europium(III) ratiometric fluorescence assay for dipicolinic acid

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Abstract

A ratiometric fluorescence assay was designed for determination of dipicolinic acid (DPA), a spore-specific compound which is used as a biomarker for Bacillus anthracis spores for food and medical product safety analysis. The dual-channel fluorescence probe integrates two fluorescent materials, Eu3+ ion and gold nanocluster (Au NC). The Au NC is used as a reference channel to measure background noise and the Eu3+ ion as the DPA-specific response signal channel. The probe was prepared through simply combing bovine serum albumin (BSA)-scaffolded Eu3+ ion and Au NCs. When excited at 530 nm, in the presence of DPA, the fluorescence signals of Eu3+ ion at 595, 617, and 695 nm increased significantly while the 650 nm signal of Au NC reference remained relatively constant. This fluorescence probe has good photo-stability and also displays good selectivity and high sensitivity for DPA with a low detection limit of 0.8 μM. The linear range of the ratiometric probe for DPA is 1–50 μM. For determination of DPA released during the germination of Bacillus subtilis spores, the detection results were in agreement with measurements by conventional calorimetry assay. The method may have potential for measuring the level of contamination and germination by spores.

Dual-channel fluorescence biosensor was designed to detect dipicolinic acid, a spore-specific compound which is used as a biomarker for Bacillus anthracis spores for food and medical product safety analysis

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Funding

The authors received support of this work from the Hunan Provincial Science and Technology Plan Project, China (No. 2019TP1001) and Innovation-Driven Project of Central South University (2020CX002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro & Nano Materials Interface Science, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Xiaoqing Li, Junjun Luo, Xingxing Jiang & Minghui Yang

  2. National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA

    Avraham Rasooly

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Correspondence to Minghui Yang or Avraham Rasooly.

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Li, X., Luo, J., Jiang, X. et al. Gold nanocluster-europium(III) ratiometric fluorescence assay for dipicolinic acid. Microchim Acta 188, 26 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-020-04667-z

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