title: BODIPY-based self-assembled nanoparticles as fluorescence turn-on sensor for the selective detection of zinc in human hair.
abstract: Zinc plays important roles in regulating physiological and pathological processes. Regrettably, mild to moderate zinc deficiency is common worldwide. Hair Zn(2+) concentration, which reflects a zinc storage status, is useful for tracking trends in zinc status within populations. In this work, we report BODIPY-based self-assembled nanoparticles (NPs) as fluorescence turn-on sensor for the selective sensing of Zn(2+) in human hair. The BODIPY monomers (BAN) self-assemble in aqueous medium to form nonfluorescent NPs. In the presence of Zn(2+) ions, the NPs selectively show an obvious turn-on fluorescence change. This selective response of the NPs allows the determination and quantification of Zn(2+) in human hair with a detection limit of 61.3nM. This study demonstrates that the small molecule self-assembled nanoparticle is a versatile and useful tool, and shows great potential for applications in sensing of important analytes in biological systems.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Ming-Yan
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China. Electronic address: niuly@mail.ipc.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Li-Ya
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China. Electronic address: fengl@dicp.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods; D001896:Boron Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D002413:Cations, Divalent / Q000032:analysis; D005453:Fluorescence; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: C095489:4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene; D001896:Boron Compounds; D002413:Cations, Divalent; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D015032:Zinc
keywords: BODIPY; Fluorescence; Self-assembled; Turn-on; Zinc