Self-assembled supramolecular nanoprobes for ratiometric fluorescence measurement of intracellular pH values

Anal Chem. 2015 Feb 17;87(4):2459-65. doi: 10.1021/ac504458r. Epub 2015 Feb 3.

Abstract

Self-assembly of small building blocks into functional supramolecular nanostructure has opened prospects for the design of novel materials. With this molecular engineering strategy, we have developed self-assembled supramolecular nanoprobes (SSNPs) for ratiometric fluorescence measurement of pH values in cells. The nanoprobes with a diameter of ∼30 nm could be formulated just by mixing pH-sensitive adamantane-fluorescein (Ad-F) and pH-insensitive adamantane-Rhodamine B (Ad-R) with β-cyclodextrin polymer (poly-β-CD) at one time. The nanoprobes with good biocompatibility have been successfully applied to measure intracellular pH in the pH range of 4-8 and estimate pH fluctuations associated with different stimuli in cells. Moreover, we expect that this self-assembled approach is applicable to the construction of nanoprobes for other targets in cells just by replacing the respective indicator dyes with relevant indicators.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Fluorescent Dyes / analysis*
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemical synthesis
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Luminescent Measurements / methods*
  • Macromolecular Substances / chemical synthesis*
  • Macromolecular Substances / chemistry
  • Molecular Structure
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*

Substances

  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Macromolecular Substances