Fine-tuning bromide AIE probes for Hg2+ detection in mitochondria with wash-free staining.
J Hazard Mater
; 464: 132999, 2024 02 15.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37988945
ABSTRACT
Mercury ions (Hg2+) primarily target mitochondria in the cells. Therefore, the development of novel probes that specifically target mitochondria in the presence of Hg2+ is of immense importance. Most previously reported probes that utilize the softness of S, Te, O, and/or N atoms for Hg2+ binding often face problems such as fluorescence quenching and off-target signals. In this study, bromide-hydrocarbon pyridinium salts were designed to target the mitochondria and chelate Hg2+ via Hg-Br coordination bonds. As a prototype, four aggregation-induced emission (AIE) fluorogens, namely TPP-Br, TPP-Cl, R1, and R2, with a similar D-π-A structure but slight differences in their halogen substituents, were designed. Among them, only TPP-Br achieved the highly selective and sensitive detection of Hg2+ by triggering its AIE properties, resulting in remarkable emission enhancement (80-fold), colorimetry, and the Tyndall effect. TPP-Br exhibited high selectivity and sensitivity to Hg2+ with a detection limit of 0.35 µM, rapid response time (<10 s), and large Stokes shift of 185 nm. Their interaction modes were studied using a combination of 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, fluorescent lifetime decay, and theoretical calculations. TPP-Br exhibited a low emission background in cells, whereas in the presence of Hg2+, mitochondria were lit up with wash-free staining. This study provides a powerful tool for accurately diagnosing mercury poisoning-related diseases in mitochondria.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Fluorescent Dyes
/
Mercury
Language:
En
Journal:
J Hazard Mater
Journal subject:
SAUDE AMBIENTAL
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
China
Country of publication:
Países Bajos