Highly selective fluorescence probe with peptide backbone for imaging mercury ions in living cells based on aggregation-induced emission effect

Yongxin Li; Yaoling Zhang; Min Wang; Daojiong Wang; Kai Chen; Pengcheng Lin; Yushu Ge; Weisheng Liu; Jiang Wu

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125712

Highly selective fluorescence probe with peptide backbone for imaging mercury ions in living cells based on aggregation-induced emission effect

J Hazard Mater. 2021 Aug 5:415:125712. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125712. Epub 2021 Mar 26.

Authors

Yongxin Li¹, Yaoling Zhang², Min Wang³, Daojiong Wang⁴, Kai Chen⁴, Pengcheng Lin³, Yushu Ge⁴, Weisheng Liu⁵, Jiang Wu⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province and State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China. Electronic address: liyx18@lzu.edu.cn.
² Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, PR China.
³ Key Laboratory for Tibet Plateau Phytochemistry of Qinghai Province, College of Pharmacy, Qinghai Nationalities University, Xining 810007, PR China.
⁴ Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, PR China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province and State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China. Electronic address: liuws@lzu.edu.cn.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province and State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, PR China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, PR China. Electronic address: wujiang@lzu.edu.cn.

PMID: 34088194
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125712

Abstract

Mercury is an anthropogenic toxic heavy metal found in the environment. It is highly desirable to develop a fluorescence probe that can selectively and sensitively detect mercury ions using a turn-on response. This paper reports the successful development of a peptide fluorescence probe, TP-2 (TPE-Trp-Pro-Gln-His-Glu-NH₂), which uses aggregation-induced emission effects and high selectivity to detect Hg²⁺. After fluorescence was activated, Hg²⁺ was efficiently detected using the change in fluorescence intensity. The detection limit for Hg²⁺ in the buffer solution was 41 nM (R² = 0.9952). Owing to its high sensitivity, high cell permeability, and low biotoxicity, the probe could perform live cell imaging under biological conditions. This study demonstrated that TP-2 can detect Hg²⁺ in complex biological environments.

Keywords: Aggregation-induced emission; Cell imaging; Mercury ion; Peptide probe.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Fluorescent Dyes
Ions
Mercury* / toxicity
Peptides
Spectrometry, Fluorescence

Substances

Fluorescent Dyes
Ions
Peptides
Mercury