An indicator displacement assay-based optical chemosensor for heparin with a dual-readout and a reversible molecular logic gate operation based on the pyranine/methyl viologen.

We have reported an optical indicator displacement assay (IDA) for heparin with a UV-vis absorbance and fluorescence dual-readout based on pyranine/methyl viologen (MV2+). Upon introducing heparin, pyranine/MV2+ shows a clearly observable increase in UV-vis absorbance and a turn-on of the fluorescence signal. We have demonstrated that the ionic nature of buffers significantly affects the pyranine displacement and the zwitterionic HEPES was most suitable for heparin sensing. After careful screening of experimental conditions, the pyranine/MV2+-based optical chemosensor exhibits a fast, sensitive, and selective response toward heparin. It shows dynamic linear concentration of heparin in the ranges of 0.1-40 U·mL-1 and 0.01-20 U·mL-1 for the absorptive and fluorescent measurements, respectively, which both cover the clinically relevant levels of heparin. As with the animal experiments, the optical chemosensor has been demonstrated to be selective and effective for heparin level qualification in rat plasma. The chemosensor is readily accessible, cost-effective, and reliable, which holds a great promise for potential application on clinical and biological studies. Furthermore, this IDA system can serve as an IMPLICATION logic gate with a reversible and switchable logical manner.

An ultra-sensitive T 2-weighted MR contrast agent based on Gd3+ ion chelated Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

An ultra-sensitive T 2-weighted MR imaging contrast agent was prepared based on Fe3O4 nanoparticles and Gd3+ ions (Fe3O4@Gd). Amino modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles were conjugated to diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid, and finally coordinated with Gd3+ ions. The nanoparticles had a uniform morphology with a size of 100 nm and a Gd/Fe mass ratio of 1/110. The r 2 (transverse relaxivity) of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles increased from 131.89 mM-1 s-1 to 202.06 mM-1 s-1 after coordination with Gd3+ ions. MR measurements showed that the aqueous dispersion of Fe3O4@Gd nanoparticles had an obvious concentration-dependent negative contrast enhancement. Hepatoma cells were selected to test the cytotoxicity and MR imaging effect. The application of Fe3O4@Gd nanoparticles as contrast agents was also exploited in vivo for T 2-weighted MR imaging of rat livers. All the results showed the effectiveness of the nanoparticles in MR diagnosis.

A facile fluorescent "turn-off" method for sensing paraquat based on pyranine-paraquat interaction.

Development of a technically simple yet effective method for paraquat (PQ) detection is of great importance due to its high clinical and environmental relevance. In this study, we developed a pyranine-based fluorescent "turn-off" method for PQ sensing based on pyranine-PQ interaction. We investigated the dependence of analytical performance of this method on the experimental conditions, such as the ion strength, medium pH, and so on. Under the optimized conditions, the method is sensitive and selective, and could be used for PQ detection in real-world sample. This study essentially provides a readily accessible fluorescent system for PQ sensing which is cheap, robust, and technically simple, and it is envisaged to find more interesting clinical and environmental applications.