用于分子识别的荧光标记探针的研究进展

利用荧光标记物进行分子识别是目前生命科学研究的热点课题.比较了几种用于分子识别的荧光标记探针的特性,如有机荧光染料、分子灯塔、纳米半导体量子点以及荧光蛋白探针.并分析了荧光标记探针的发展趋势,指出了理想的荧光标记探针应该具备的特征.     

CdTe量子点的微波合成及其在双光子显微成像中的应用

采用微波辐射加热的方法,以亚碲酸钠(Na2TeO3)作碲源,以谷胱甘肽(GSH)作稳定剂,在水相中合成出高质量的CdTe量子点。所合成量子点的发射波长从515～630nm可调,荧光量子产率(PLQYs)最高达95%。利用X射线粉末衍射(XRD)、高分辨透射电镜(HRTEM)、紫外-可见吸收光谱(UV-Vis)和荧光发射光谱(PL)等技术表征产物的物相结构和光学性质。用双光子激发荧光法研究CdTe量子点的双光子吸收性质。用双光子激发荧光成像技术,以发红光的CdTe量子点作为双光子荧光探针成功标记了人肺腺癌细胞(A549)。     

罗丹明B多层荧光纳米微球对Hg~(2+)的检测

利用水热法合成了掺杂锌的碲化镉量子点(CdTe∶Zn QDs),并采用反相微乳法将SiO_2包覆在量子点表面形成多层SiO_2纳米微球。通过接枝方法将罗丹明B衍生物连接在硅球上,利用Hg~(2+)可以使罗丹明B衍生物的螺环结构发生开环反应并产生荧光增强这一特性,构建了荧光共振能量转移(FRET)的比率探针,并成功实现了对水溶液中Hg~(2+)的比率检测。结果表明,该探针在波长为521nm和577nm时对Hg~(2+)具有良好的灵敏度和选择性,检测限是0.5μM。     

量子点光学传感器的研究进展

分别从荧光转换传感器、荧光共振能量传感器、磷光转换传感器和定位传感器等方面综述了量子点光学传感器的发生机理及其在测定金属离子、阴离子、小分子、共振能量转移体系以及磷光材料、固态材料方面的应用.最后介绍了量子点光学传感器存在的问题和发展趋势.     

基于分子工程能量转移构建的比率型双光子荧光探针在生物成像中的应用

设计和合成可被应用于生物系统中各种分析物的比例检测与成像的基于能量转移二元体系的比率型双光子荧光探针是一项至关重要的任务。因此,对近10 a基于荧光共振能量转移(FRET)或跨键能量转移(TBET)构建的比率型双光子荧光探针在生物成像中的应用进行综述。未来的研究方向是基于FRET/TBET构建新型双光子比率型荧光探针,并将其应用于生物分析和疾病诊断领域。     

双发射荧光探针在F~-离子检测中的应用

利用Turkevich-Frens法制备金纳米粒子,然后利用Stber法将水热条件下制备的掺杂Zn的CdTe量子点(CdTe∶Zn QDs)修饰在SiO_2微球上得到一种荧光微球。利用AuNPs和荧光微球构建双发射荧光探针,基于F-能够使荧光探针的荧光恢复的原理,实现对F-的检测。同时研究了平衡时间和pH值对该探针的影响。结果表明该探针具有较好的抗干扰性且在pH值=7.0的HEPES缓冲溶液中检测限低达149nmol/L。     

静电自组装制备CdTe量子点纳米薄膜

以巯基丙酸为稳定剂, 在水相中合成了表面带负电荷、具有良好的分散性、平均粒径为5nm的CdTe量子点. 通过CdTe量子点与阳离子聚电解质聚二烯丙基二甲基氯化铵(PDDA)和阴离子聚电解质聚苯乙烯磺酸钠(PSS)之间的静电相互作用, 在石英基片表面通过层层静电自组装方法制备了多层CdTe量子点纳米薄膜. 以荧光分光光度计、UV-Vis、XPS、AFM等测试手段对所得的CdTe量子点纳米薄膜进行了表征. 研究结果表明, CdTe量子点自组装多层薄膜的UV-Vis吸光度与组装层数基本呈线性关系, 薄膜成膜质量良好. 自组装薄膜基本上规整并均匀地覆盖在石英基底表面, 但薄膜中存在部分CdTe量子点聚集现象. 通过在相邻的两层CdTe量子点之间引入基本结构单元为PDDA/PSS/PDDA的聚电解质复合层, 可有效提高CdTe量子点纳米薄膜的成膜质量. 所得的CdTe量子点纳米薄膜具有良好的荧光光致发光性.     

水溶性Cu∶CdTe/CdS核壳量子点的合成、表征及细胞毒性检测

采用水相法合成了Cu掺杂CdTe量子点,并用CdS壳层进行包覆,得到了Cu∶CdTe/CdS核壳结构量子点。采用荧光发射光谱(FL)、紫外可见吸收光谱(UV-Vis)、透射电镜(TEM)以及能谱仪(EDS)等手段对CdTe量子点和Cu∶CdTe/CdS核壳量子点进行了表征。研究了不同Cu掺杂浓度、CdS壳层生长时间以及Cd/硫脲物质的量比对Cu∶CdTe掺杂量子点光学性能的影响,并采用人成骨肉瘤细胞(MG-63细胞)对样品做了细胞毒性分析。研究结果表明:通过掺杂和包壳的步骤,合成的Cu∶CdTe/CdS核壳量子点在CdTe量子点的基础上实现了荧光发射红移,荧光强度提高,以及细胞毒性降低。     

圆偏振光诱导CdTe量子点再生长及其对光致发光的影响

实验研究了以3-巯基丙酸为配体合成的水溶性CdTe量子点经过非偏振光与圆偏振光照射处理后, 量子点的再生长变化规律。采用光致发光谱、紫外-可见吸收光谱、透射电子显微镜与X射线衍射等表征手段分析表明: 非偏振光会促进CdTe量子点的光氧化, 导致量子点尺寸缩小, 荧光发光峰位蓝移, 且发光效率降低; 而圆偏振光增强了配体的光氧化, 在量子点表面形成CdS层, 导致量子点尺寸进一步增大, 荧光发光峰红移, 且发光效率提升。进一步讨论了CdTe量子点与配体之间的键合作用, 相关光化学反应机制及其对量子点光致发光性质的影响。     

荧光探针在细胞成像领域的研究进展

荧光成像技术是生物医学领域的重要研究手段,可对目标分子进行原位实时的监测,且这种方法具有无损伤、高特异性和高灵敏度,以及能在细胞水平获得更高的分辨率等优势。近年来,荧光材料在离子分子识别、医学诊断、生物分子检测以及生物成像等领域显示出了重要的应用价值,因此受到越来越多的化学和材料工作者的重视。综述了碳纳米材料、半导体量子点、稀土金属、有机荧光小分子、聚合物荧光纳米颗粒几种常见不同类型的荧光探针材料在细胞成像领域的应用,介绍了其发射波长、荧光量子产率、生物相容性、光稳定性、细胞毒性以及遗传毒性等特性。设计并合成发射波长较长、Stokes位移大、生物相容性好、光稳定性好、廉价的荧光探针将是荧光成像技术的主要研究方向。     

Spectroscopic features of dual fluorescence/luminescence resonance energy-transfer molecular beacons

Molecular beacons have the potential to become a powerful tool in gene detection and quantification in living cells. Here we report a novel dual molecular beacons approach to reduce false-positive signals in detecting target nucleic acids in homogeneous assays. A pair of molecular beacons, each containing a fluorescence quencher and a reporter fluorophore, one with a donor and a second with an acceptor fluorophore, hybridize to adjacent regions on the same target resulting in fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). The detection of a FRET signal leads to a substantially increased signal-to-background ratio compared with that seen in single molecular beacon assays and enables discrimination between fluorescence due to specific probe/target hybridization and a variety of possible false-positive events. Further, when a lanthanide chelate is used as a donor in a dual-probe assay, extremely high signal-to-background ratios can be achieved owing to the long lifetime and sharp emission peaks of the donor and the time-gated detection of acceptor fluorescence emission. These new approaches allow for the ultrasensitive detection of target molecules in a way that could be readily applied to real-time imaging of gene expression in living cells.     

Chemical Redox Modulation of the Surface Chemistry of CdTe Quantum Dots for Probing Ascorbic Acid in Biological Fluids

Most of the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)‐based sensors employing quantum dots (QDs) usually use organic fluorophores and gold nanoparticles as the quenchers. However, complex processes for the modification/immobilization of the QDs are always necessary, as the generation of FRET requires strict distance between the donor and acceptor. Herein, a simple chemical redox strategy for modulating the surface chemistry of the QDs to develop a QD‐based turn‐on fluorescent probe is reported. The principle of the strategy is demonstrated by employing CdTe QDs with KMnO₄ as the quencher and ascorbic acid as the target analyte. The fluorescence of CdTe QDs is quenched with a blue‐shift upon addition of KMnO₄ due to the oxidation of the Te atoms on the surface of the QDs. The quenched fluorescence of the QDs is then recovered upon addition of ascorbic acid due to the reduction of CdTeO₃/TeO₂ on the surface of the QDs to CdTe. The recovered fluorescence of the QDs increases linearly with the concentration of ascorbic acid from 0.3 to 10 µM . Thus, a novel QD‐based turn‐on fluorescent probe with a detection limit as low as 74 nM is developed for the sensitive and selective detection of ascorbic acid in biological fluids. The present approach avoids the complex modification/immobilization of the QDs involved in FRET‐based sensors, and opens a simple pathway to developing cost‐effective, sensitive, and selective QD‐based fluorescence turn‐on sensors/probes for biologically significant antioxidants.     

Ligand replacement-induced fluorescence switch of quantum dots for ultrasensitive detection of organophosphorothioate pesticides

The development of a simple and on-site assay for the detection of organophosphorus pesticed residues is very important for food safety and exosystem protection. This paper reports the surface coordination-originated fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) of CdTe quantum dots (QDs) and a simple ligand-replacement turn-on mechanism for the highly sensitive and selective detection of organophosphorothioate pesticides. It has been demonstrated that coordination of dithizone at the surface of CdTe QDs in basic media can strongly quench the green emission of CdTe QDs by a FRET mechanism. Upon the addition of organophosphorothioate pesticides, the dithizone ligands at the CdTe QD surface are replaced by the hydrolyzate of the organophosphorothioate, and hence the fluorescence is turned on. The fluorescence turn on is immediate, and the limit of detection for chlorpyrifos is as low as ～0.1 nM. Two consecutive linear ranges allow a wide determination of chlorpyrifos concentrations from 0.1 nM to 10 μM. Importantly, the fluorescence turn-on chemosensor can directly detect chlorpyrifos residues in apples at a limit of 5.5 ppb, which is under the maximum residue limit allowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The very simple strategy reported here should facilitate the development of fluorescence turn-on chemosensors for chemo/biodetection.     

Polyacrylamide gel film immobilized molecular beacon array for single nucleotide mismatch detection

We reported polyacrylamide gel immobilized molecular beacon array for single nucleotide mismatch detection in this paper. Molecular beacons are oligonucleotide probes fluorescing upon hybridization to their complementary DNA/RNA targets with excellent sensitivity and high selectivity. The specially designed molecular beacon for immobilization contains a 15 base loop sequence with a 5 base pair stem, a polyT (20 bases) spacer, a 5'-end amino group for immobilization, a fluorescein in the middle of the sequence as the fluorophore, and a 3'-end DABCYL as the quencher. Between the 5'-end amino group and the stem, the polyT is used to minimize disability caused by 5'-end immobilization. The molecular beacon microarray was fabricated by a pin-based spotting robot and the hybridization was investigated by confocal microscope. A real-time hybridization process at room temperature was registered every minute for 20 min after the target solution was pumped into the hybridization cell. The result indicates that a polyacrylamide film coated glass slide provides an ideal solution-like environment for molecular beacon probes. The potential applications of this kind of molecular beacon array are mutation detection, disease mechanisms, disease diagnostics, etc. in a parallel, cost saving, and label-free detection way.     

Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging and FRET‐Induced Intracellular Redistribution of Tat‐Conjugated Quantum Dot Nanoparticles through Interaction with a Phthalocyanine Photosensitiser

The interaction of Tat‐conjugated PEGylated CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QD) with the amphiphilic disulfonated aluminium phthalocyanine photosensitiser is investigated in aqueous solution and in a human breast cancer cell line. In aqueous solution, the QDs and phthalocyanine form stable nanocomposites. Using steady‐state and time‐resolved fluorescence measurements combined with singlet oxygen detection, efficient Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is observed with the QDs acting as donors, and the phthalocyanine photosensitiser, which mediates production of singlet oxygen, as acceptors. In cells, the Tat‐conjugated QDs localise in lysosomes and the QD fluorescence lifetimes are close to values observed in aqueous solution. Strong FRET‐induced quenching of the QD lifetime is observed in cells incubated with the nanocomposites using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). Using excitation of the QDs at wavelengths where phthalocyanine absorption is negligible, FRET‐induced release of QDs from endo/lysosomes is confirmed using confocal imaging and FLIM, which is attributed to photooxidative damage to the endo/lysosomal membranes mediated by the phthalocyanine acceptor.     

On-chip transduction of nucleic acid hybridization using spatial profiles of immobilized quantum dots and fluorescence resonance energy transfer

The glass surface of a glass-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic channel was modified to develop a solid-phase assay for quantitative determination of nucleic acids. Electroosmotic flow (EOF) within channels was used to deliver and immobilize semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), and electrophoresis was used to decorate the QDs with oligonucleotide probe sequences. These processes took only minutes to complete. The QDs served as energy donors in fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) for transduction of nucleic acid hybridization. Electrokinetic injection of fluorescent dye (Cy3) labeled oligonucleotide target into a microfluidic channel and subsequent hybridization (within minutes) provided the proximity for FRET, with emission from Cy3 being the analytical signal. The quantification of target concentration was achieved by measurement of the spatial length of coverage by target along a channel. Detection of femtomole quantities of target was possible with a dynamic range spanning an order of magnitude. The assay provided excellent resistance to nonspecific interactions of DNA. Further selectivity of the assay was achieved using 20% formamide, which allowed discrimination between a fully complementary target and a 3 base pair mismatch target at a contrast ratio of 4:1.     

Nucleic acid-based fluorescence sensors for detecting proteins

We report here development of a rapid, homogeneous, aptamer-based fluorescence assay ("molecular beacons") for detecting proteins. The assay involves protein-induced coassociation of two aptamers recognizing two distinct epitopes of the protein. The aptamers contain short fluorophore-labeled complementary "signaling" oligonucleotides attached to the aptamer by non-DNA linker. Coassociation of the two aptamers with the protein results in bringing the two "signaling" oligonucleotides into proximity, producing a large change of fluorescence resonance energy transfer between the fluorophores. We used thrombin as a model system to provide proof-of-principle evidence validating this molecular beacon design. Thrombin beacon was capable of detecting the protein with high selectivity (also in complex biological mixtures), picomolar sensitivity, and high signal-to-background ratio. This is a homogeneous assay requiring no sample manipulation. Since the design of molecular beacons described here is not limited to any specific protein, it will be possible to develop these beacons to detect a variety of target proteins of biomedical importance.     

The specific hybridization of p53 gene on bead-quantum dot complex in microfluidic chip

Recently, nanobiosensors using nanoparticles, such as gold, silver, and quantum dots, have been studied extensively. Among them, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based DNA sensor is prominent device, especially for the medical diagnosis and biomolecular investigations. FRET is a phenomenon of the emitted energy transfer from one fluorescent dye to another dye through a convoluted wavelength for the excitation. PDMS-based microfluidic chips with pillar structure were prepared for the detection of exon 7 of p53 gene by using QD-DNA probe attached to polystyrene micro beads. The specific hybridization was investigated with 4 different target oligonucleotides. Fluorescence quenching was observed only from the target oligonucleotide for exon 7 with proper sequence for the hybridization. The fluorescence intensity from QDs decreased rapidly due to hybridization and FRET between QDs and intercalating dyes.     

Quantum dot-fluorescent protein pairs as novel fluorescence resonance energy transfer probes

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) characteristics, including the efficiency, donor-acceptor distance, and binding strength of six fluorescent protein (FP)-quantum dot (QD) pairs were quantified, demonstrating that FPs are efficient acceptors for QD donors with up to 90% quenching of QD fluorescence and that polyhistidine coordination to QD core-shell surface is a straightforward and effective means of conjugating proteins to commercially available QDs. This provides a novel approach to developing QD-based FRET probes for biomedical applications.     

Evolution of luminescence properties of CdTe quantum dots in liquid/solid environment

We studied the luminescence behavior of different sized CdTe quantum dots (QDs) dispersed in liquid solution, close-packed films and layer-by-layer assembled films respectively. The changes of emission color from CdTe QDs in water droplets during the evaporation of solvent have been observed. The quenching of the emission from small dots accompanied by the enhancement of the emission from large dots indicate that Forster resonance energy transfer processes occur from donors (small dots) to acceptors (large dot) for CdTe QDs system. Excitation (PLE) spectra confirm that the changes of the luminescence were attributed to the resonance energy transfer between small and larger dots in a mixed QD system.