title: Ratiometric QD-FRET Sensing of Aqueous H2S in Vitro.
abstract: We report a platform for the ratiometric fluorescent sensing of endogenously generated gaseous transmitter H2S in its aqueous form (bisulfide or hydrogen sulfide anion) based on the alteration of Förster resonance energy transfer from an emissive semiconductor quantum dot (QD) donor to a dithiol-linked organic dye acceptor. The disulfide bridge between the two chromophores is cleaved upon exposure to bisulfide, resulting in termination of FRET as the dye diffuses away from the QD. This results in enhanced QD emission and dye quenching. The resulting ratiometric response can be correlated quantitatively to the concentration of bisulfide and was found to have a detection limit as low as 1.36 ± 0.03 μM. The potential for use in biological applications was demonstrated by measuring the response of the QD-based FRET sensor microinjected into live HeLa cells upon extracellular exposure to bisulfide. The methodology used here is built upon a highly multifunctional platform that offers numerous advantages, such as low detection limit, enhanced photochemical stability, and sensing ability within a biological milieu.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago , 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607-7061, United States.
authors.forename: Armen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shamirian
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago , 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607-7061, United States.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Samareh Afsari
authors.affiliation: Colgate-Palmolive Global Technology Center, 909 River Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08855-1343, United States.
authors.forename: Donghui
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago , 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607-7061, United States.
authors.forename: Lawrence W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago , 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607-7061, United States.
authors.forename: Preston T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Snee
mesh_terms: D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide / Q000032:analysis*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D015394:Molecular Structure; D045663:Quantum Dots; D012995:Solubility; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D014867:Water; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide