title: p-sulfonated calix[8]arene functionalized graphene as a "turn on" fluorescent sensing platform for aconitine determination.
abstract: This work reports a novel method for the determination of aconitine through the competitive host-guest interaction between p-sulfonated calix[8]arene (SCX8) and signal probe/target molecules by using SCX8 functionalized reduced graphene oxide (SCX8-RGO) as a receptor. Three dyes (ST, RhB, BRB) and aconitine were selected as the probe and target molecules, respectively. The formation of SCX8-RGO·ST, SCX8-RGO·RhB, and SCX8-RGO·BRB complexes greatly decreases the fluorescence emission of ST, RhB, and BRB. The aconitine/SCX8 complex possesses a higher binding constant than ST/SCX8, RhB/SCX8, and BRB/SCX8 complexes, thus the dye in the SCX8 cavity can be replaced by aconitine to revert the fluorescence emission of SCX8-RGO·dye, leading to a "switch-on" fluorescence response. The fluorescence intensity of SCX8-RGO·ST, SCX8-RGO·RhB, and SCX8-RGO·BRB complexes increased linearly with increasing concentration of aconitine ranging from 1.0 to 14.0μM, 2.0-16.0μM, and 1.0-16.0μM, respectively. Based on the competitive host-guest interaction, the proposed detection method for aconitine showed detection limits of 0.28μM, 0.60μM, and 0.37μM, respectively, and was successfully applied for the determination of aconitine in human serum samples with good recoveries from 95.1% to 104.8%. The proposed method showed high selectivity for aconitine beyond competitive binding analytes. In addition, the inclusion complex of the SCX8/aconitine was studied by the molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation, which indicated that the phenyl ester group of the aconitine molecule was included into the SCX8 cavity.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Science and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China.
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Science and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoguang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Science and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China.
authors.forename: Le
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Science and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ran
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Science and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China.
authors.forename: Yucong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Science and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China.
authors.forename: Tianpeng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China. Electronic address: zhaohui@yun.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Science and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China. Electronic address: lcppp1974@sina.com.
authors.forename: Can-Peng
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000157:Aconitine / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D031841:Aconitum / Q000737:chemistry; D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D047250:Calixarenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D013450:Sulfones / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D013450:Sulfones; D047250:Calixarenes; D006108:Graphite; D000157:Aconitine
keywords: Aconitine; Calix[8]arene; Competitive host–guest interaction; Fluorescent indicator displacement assay; Graphene