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A near-infrared fluorescent bioassay for thrombin using aptamer-modified CuInS2 quantum dots

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Abstract

We describe a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent thrombin assay using a thrombin-binding aptamer (TBA) and Zn(II)-activated CuInS2 quantum dots (Q-dots). The fluorescence of Zn(II)-activated Q-dots is quenched by the TBA via photoinduced electron transfer, but if thrombin is added, it will bind to TBA to form G-quadruplexes and the Q-dots are released. As a result, the fluorescence intensity of the system is restored. This effect was exploited to design an assay for thrombin whose calibration plot, under optimum conditions, is linear in the 0.034 to 102 nmol L−1 concentration range, with a 12 pmol L−1 detection limit. The method is fairly simple, fast, and due to its picomolar detection limits holds great potential in the diagnosis of diseases associated with coagulation abnormalities and certain kinds of cancer.

We developed a simple near-infrared fluorescence assay using thrombin binding aptamer (TBA) and Zn(II)-activated CuInS2 quantum dots for the highly selective and sensitive detection of thrombin.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21075050, No. 21275063) and the science and technology development project of Jilin province, China (No. 20110334).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Analytical Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, People’s Republic of China

      Zihan Lin, Tianyu Hu, Ziping Liu & Xingguang Su

    2. State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, People’s Republic of China

      Dong Pan

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    1. Zihan Lin
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    Correspondence to Xingguang Su.

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    Zihan Lin and Dong Pan contributed equally to this work.

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    Lin, Z., Pan, D., Hu, T. et al. A near-infrared fluorescent bioassay for thrombin using aptamer-modified CuInS2 quantum dots. Microchim Acta 182, 1933–1939 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-015-1526-4

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-015-1526-4

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