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Biocompatible glutathione-capped gold nanoclusters for dual fluorescent sensing and imaging of copper(II) and temperature in human cells and bacterial cells

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Abstract

Highly red luminescent gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) have been prepared at physiological temperature by using glutathione (GSH) as a stabilizing and capping agent in aqueous media. The resultant AuNCs have been characterized by photoluminescence and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and FTIR. The AuNCs exhibit red fluorescence with a quantum yield of 3.1 %, and fluorescence is strongly quenched by copper(II) ion due to aggregation. This finding is exploited in a fluorometric assay for Cu(II) that has a 2.8 nM detection limit. The method was applied to the determination of Cu(II) ion in (spiked) mineral water and Tai Lake water. In addition, the AuNCs display a strongly temperature-dependent emission that can be used for optical determination of temperature in the 0 to 60 °C range. We finally show that the AuNCs are viable nanomaterials for (a) plain imaging of Hep-2 cells by laser scanning confocal microscopy, and for (b) intracellular imaging of Cu(II) and of temperature in Hep-2 cells and E. coli.

Red luminescent GSH-Au nanoclusters were synthesized and are shown to be viable nanoprobes for copper(II) ion and temperature. They were applied to cellular and bacterial imaging.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Health Bureau Foundation of Wuxi City, China (MS201524). We also acknowledge support from Wuxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wuxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuxi, 214023, People’s Republic of China

    Lingcan Kong, Xia Ling, Guangyuan Ma, Yuyang Yao, Yuanhua Meng & Wenwei Liu

  2. Department of Basic Science, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun, 130118, People’s Republic of China

    Xuefeng Chu

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  1. Lingcan Kong
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Correspondence to Lingcan Kong or Wenwei Liu.

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Kong, L., Chu, X., Ling, X. et al. Biocompatible glutathione-capped gold nanoclusters for dual fluorescent sensing and imaging of copper(II) and temperature in human cells and bacterial cells. Microchim Acta 183, 2185–2195 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-016-1854-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-016-1854-z

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