title: Self-assembled supramolecular nanoprobes for ratiometric fluorescence measurement of intracellular pH values.
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.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory for Bio-Nanotechnology and Molecular Engineering of Hunan Province, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Leiliang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Xiaohai
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Kemin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jianbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Wenshan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000032:analysis* / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000379:methods*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D015394:Molecular Structure; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D046911:Macromolecular Substances