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Detection of Microcystin-LR in the Cells and Natural Lake Water Samples by A Unique Fluorescence-Based Method

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Abstract

Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is widely distributed in natural lakes and could strongly inhibit protein phosphatase activity; it is also a potent liver tumor promoter. Over the last two decades, tremendous efforts have been devoted to enhance the detection of MC-LR in water samples. However, the traditional method is complex and costly, and achieving the fast, sensitive, and accurate determination of MC-LR in the cells and natural lakes by using fluorescence signal changes is fairly difficult. Our work explores novel fluorescent probes that are capable of concurrently analyzing and detecting MC-LR in the cells and water. In this study, we introduce, for the first time, 5-AF and 6-AF as small-molecule fluorescent probes suitable for MC-LR detection in the cells and water samples based on fluorescence signal changes. We titrated 5-AF and 6-AF with MC-LR in pure water, scanned the fluorescence of the sample, and then obtained the equation the fluorescence intensity versus MC-LR concentration curve. MC-LR in lake water samples was crudely purified, and then 5-AF was added to measure its fluorescence peak. The fluorescence intensity of 5-AF is significantly enhanced with increasing MC-LR concentration. This enhancement trend is stable and could be mathematically modeled. We also comprehensively analyzed the mechanism and recognition principle of the probe response to MC-LR in natural lake water. Moreover, we believe that 5-AF may be capable of detecting exogenous MC-LR in cells. The results of this study reveal that these unique fluorescent probes may be applied to construct near-infrared fluorescent probes that could detect MC-LR levels in vivo.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by NSFC (51973082, 51503077), Yunnan Provincial Department of Science and Technology (202001BB050078) and Special project for social development of Yunnan Province (202103AC100001). This research was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB31000000), high-level talents program of Yunnan University (20198006, 20200105) and the Postgraduate Research and Innovation Foundation of Yunnan University (2021Y046).

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China, 51973082, Yong Liu, Special project for social development of Yunnan Province, 202103AC100001, Yong Liu.

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  1. Yipeng Liu and Bingyan Li made equal contributions to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes, School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, P.R. China

    Yipeng Liu, Bingyan Li, Huixia Zhang & Yong Liu

  2. Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, PR China

    Ping Xie

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Yipeng Liu conceived the ideas supported by previous ideas of Yong Liu and Ping Xie. All authors conceptualized the paper; Yipeng Liu and Bingyan Li completed data measurement and collection; Yipeng Liu and Yong Liu wrote this manuscript; All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.

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Liu, Y., Li, B., Zhang, H. et al. Detection of Microcystin-LR in the Cells and Natural Lake Water Samples by A Unique Fluorescence-Based Method. J Fluoresc 32, 505–519 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-021-02882-2

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