Microwave-assisted rapid synthesis of luminescent gold nanoclusters for sensing Hg2+ in living cells using fluorescence imaging.

A microwave-assisted strategy for synthesizing dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA) capped fluorescent gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) has been developed. Irradiation with microwaves during synthesis enhanced the fluorescence quantum yield (QY) of AuNCs by about five-fold and shortened the reaction time from hours to several minutes. The as-synthesized DHLA-AuNCs possessed bright near-infrared fluorescence (QY: 2.9%), ultrasmall hydrodynamic diameter (3.3 nm), good colloidal stability over the physiologically relevant pH range of 5-10 as well as low cytotoxicity toward HeLa cells. Moreover, these DHLA-AuNCs were capable of sensing Hg(2+) through the specific interaction between Hg(2+) and Au(+) on the surface of AuNCs; the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.5 nM. A potential application in imaging intracellular Hg(2+) in HeLa cells was demonstrated by using spinning disc confocal microscopy.

[1]  Lei Yan,et al.  Microwave-assisted synthesis of BSA-stabilized and HSA-protected gold nanoclusters with red emission , 2012 .

[2]  Luigi Carbone,et al.  Microwave-assisted synthesis of colloidal inorganic nanocrystals. , 2011, Angewandte Chemie.

[3]  G. Nienhaus,et al.  One-pot synthesis of near-infrared fluorescent gold clusters for cellular fluorescence lifetime imaging. , 2011, Small.

[4]  G. Nienhaus,et al.  Ultra-small fluorescent metal nanoclusters: Synthesis and biological applications , 2011 .

[5]  Chengzhou Zhu,et al.  A simple and sensitive fluorescent sensing platform for Hg²+ ions assay based on G-quenching. , 2011, Talanta.

[6]  H. Fun,et al.  A highly sensitive and selective ratiometric fluorescent probe based on conjugated donor–acceptor–donor constitution of 1,8-naphthyridine for Hg2+ , 2011 .

[7]  B. Liu,et al.  Energy Transfer between Conjugated-Oligoelectrolyte-Substituted POSS and Gold Nanocluster for Multicolor Intracellular Detection of Mercury Ion , 2011 .

[8]  Ying Liu,et al.  Cellular uptake, intracellular trafficking, and cytotoxicity of nanomaterials. , 2011, Small.

[9]  Robin H. A. Ras,et al.  Fluorescent silver nanoclusters. , 2011, Nanoscale.

[10]  G. Nienhaus,et al.  Facile preparation of water-soluble fluorescent gold nanoclusters for cellular imaging applications. , 2011, Nanoscale.

[11]  Kwangmeyung Kim,et al.  Nanoprobes for biomedical imaging in living systems , 2011 .

[12]  Jie Zheng,et al.  Luminescent gold nanoparticles with efficient renal clearance. , 2011, Angewandte Chemie.

[13]  Huan‐Tsung Chang,et al.  Protein A-conjugated luminescent gold nanodots as a label-free assay for immunoglobulin G in plasma. , 2011, The Analyst.

[14]  Zhen Gu,et al.  Detection of mercury ion by infrared fluorescent protein and its hydrogel-based paper assay. , 2011, Analytical chemistry.

[15]  Chih-Ching Huang,et al.  Gold nanoparticle probes for the detection of mercury, lead and copper ions. , 2011, The Analyst.

[16]  C. Sharma,et al.  Fluorescent gold clusters as nanosensors for copper ions in live cells. , 2011, The Analyst.

[17]  Qinghua Xu,et al.  Biocompatible glutathione capped gold clusters as one- and two-photon excitation fluorescence contrast agents for live cells imaging. , 2011, Nanoscale.

[18]  Yanhua Dong,et al.  Horseradish peroxidase functionalized fluorescent gold nanoclusters for hydrogen peroxide sensing. , 2011, Analytical chemistry.

[19]  Yong Zhang,et al.  Small upconverting fluorescent nanoparticles for biomedical applications. , 2010, Small.

[20]  S. Pal,et al.  Luminescent quantum clusters of gold in transferrin family protein, lactoferrin exhibiting FRET. , 2010, Nanoscale.

[21]  Amitava Das,et al.  Azine-based receptor for recognition of Hg2+ ion: crystallographic evidence and imaging application in live cells. , 2010, Organic letters.

[22]  Fang Zeng,et al.  β-cyclodextrin as the vehicle for forming ratiometric mercury ion sensor usable in aqueous media, biological fluids, and live cells. , 2010, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[23]  W. Tseng,et al.  Ultrasensitive sensing of Hg(2+) and CH(3)Hg(+) based on the fluorescence quenching of lysozyme type VI-stabilized gold nanoclusters. , 2010, Analytical chemistry.

[24]  Kemin Wang,et al.  Ultrasmall near-infrared gold nanoclusters for tumor fluorescence imaging in vivo. , 2010, Nanoscale.

[25]  Per Niklas Hedde,et al.  Optical imaging of nanoscale cellular structures , 2010, Biophysical Reviews.

[26]  M. Niederberger,et al.  Microwave chemistry for inorganic nanomaterials synthesis. , 2010, Nanoscale.

[27]  A. Banerjee,et al.  Facile Synthesis of Water-Soluble Fluorescent Silver Nanoclusters and HgII Sensing , 2010 .

[28]  Lin Yuan,et al.  A highly selective and sensitive fluorescent probe for Hg(2+) imaging in live cells based on a rhodamine-thioamide-alkyne scaffold. , 2010, Chemical communications.

[29]  Yi Lu,et al.  Lysozyme-stabilized gold fluorescent cluster: Synthesis and application as Hg(2+) sensor. , 2010, The Analyst.

[30]  Shu‐Yi Lin,et al.  Enhanced quantum yield of dendrimer-entrapped gold nanodots by a specific ion-pair association and microwave irradiation for bioimaging. , 2010, Chemical communications.

[31]  Martin M. F. Choi,et al.  Synthesis of 1.4 nm α-Cyclodextrin-Protected Gold Nanoparticles for Luminescence Sensing of Mercury(II) with Picomolar Detection Limit† , 2010 .

[32]  Moon J. Kim,et al.  Luminescent Gold Nanoparticles with Mixed Valence States Generated from Dissociation of Polymeric Au (I) Thiolates. , 2010, The journal of physical chemistry. C, Nanomaterials and interfaces.

[33]  R. Sperling,et al.  Surface modification, functionalization and bioconjugation of colloidal inorganic nanoparticles , 2010, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

[34]  R. Jin,et al.  Quantum sized, thiolate-protected gold nanoclusters. , 2010, Nanoscale.

[35]  E. Wang,et al.  Carbon nanotube-DNA hybrid fluorescent sensor for sensitive and selective detection of mercury(II) ion. , 2010, Chemical communications.

[36]  Jianping Xie,et al.  Highly selective and ultrasensitive detection of Hg(2+) based on fluorescence quenching of Au nanoclusters by Hg(2+)-Au(+) interactions. , 2010, Chemical communications.

[37]  R. V. Omkumar,et al.  Bright, NIR-emitting Au23 from Au25: characterization and applications including biolabeling. , 2009, Chemistry.

[38]  Julia Xiaojun Zhao,et al.  Sensing Mercury for Biomedical and Environmental Monitoring , 2009, Sensors.

[39]  Myung Gil Choi,et al.  Hg2+ -selective chromogenic and fluorogenic chemodosimeter based on thiocoumarins. , 2009, Chemical communications.

[40]  B. Liu,et al.  Asymmetric Fluorescence Quenching of Dual-Emissive Porphyrin-Containing Conjugated Polyelectrolytes for Naked-Eye Mercury Ion Detection , 2008 .

[41]  Xiaoling Zhang,et al.  A ratiometric fluorescent probe based on FRET for imaging Hg2+ ions in living cells. , 2008, Angewandte Chemie.

[42]  Chih-Ching Huang,et al.  Control over surface DNA density on gold nanoparticles allows selective and sensitive detection of mercury(II). , 2008, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[43]  Zusing Yang,et al.  Synthesis of highly fluorescent gold nanoparticles for sensing mercury(II). , 2007, Angewandte Chemie.

[44]  Kemin Wang,et al.  Dye-doped nanoparticles for bioanalysis , 2007 .

[45]  Robert M Dickson,et al.  Highly fluorescent noble-metal quantum dots. , 2007, Annual review of physical chemistry.

[46]  Chuan He,et al.  Design of an emission ratiometric biosensor from MerR family proteins: a sensitive and selective sensor for Hg2+. , 2007, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[47]  Elizabeth M. Nolan,et al.  Selective Hg(II) detection in aqueous solution with thiol derivatized fluoresceins. , 2006, Inorganic chemistry.

[48]  T. Clarkson,et al.  The Toxicology of Mercury and Its Chemical Compounds , 2006, Critical reviews in toxicology.

[49]  Katsuyuki Nobusada,et al.  Glutathione-protected gold clusters revisited: bridging the gap between gold(I)-thiolate complexes and thiolate-protected gold nanocrystals. , 2005, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[50]  S. Gambhir,et al.  Quantum Dots for Live Cells, in Vivo Imaging, and Diagnostics , 2005, Science.

[51]  R. Dickson,et al.  Highly fluorescent, water-soluble, size-tunable gold quantum dots. , 2004, Physical review letters.

[52]  J. Frangioni.  In vivo near-infrared fluorescence imaging. , 2003, Current opinion in chemical biology.

[53]  J. Aylott.  Optical nanosensors--an enabling technology for intracellular measurements. , 2003, The Analyst.

[54]  Anders Hallberg,et al.  Microwave-accelerated homogeneous catalysis in organic chemistry. , 2002, Accounts of chemical research.