A Prompt Study on Recent Advances in the Development Of Colorimetric and Fluorescent Chemosensors for "Nanomolar Detection" of Biologically Important Analytes

Fluorescent and colorimetric chemosensors for selective detection of various biologically important analytes have been widely applied in different areas such as biology, physiology, pharmacology, and environmental sciences. The research area based on fluorescent chemosensors has been in existence for about 150 years with the development of large number of fluorescent chemosensors for selective detection of cations as metal ions, anions, reactive species, neutral molecules and different gases etc. Despite the progress made in this field, several problems and challenges still exist. The most important part of sensing is limit of detection (LOD) which is the lowest concentration that can be measured (detected) with statistical significance by means of a given analytical procedure. Although there are so many reports available for detection of millimolar to micromolar range but the development of chemosensors for the detection of analytes in nanomolar range is still a challenging task. Therefore, in our current review we have focused the history and a general overview of the development in the research of fluorescent sensors for selective detection of various analytes at nanomolar level only. The basic principles involved in the design of chemosensors for specific analytes, binding mode, photophysical properties and various directions are also covered here. Summary of physiochemical properties, mechanistic view and type of different chemosensors has been demonstrated concisely in the tabular forms.

A Simple Selective Probe for Lysine Detection in Tablets, Food Samples and Cells

A novel probe ITQ (9-(((E)-1 H-inden-1-ylidene)methyl)-8-(3-(((E)-1 H-inden-1-ylidene)methyl)phenoxy)-2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-1 H,5 H-pyrido[3,2,1ij]quinolone) was successfully designed and synthesized to detect amino acid lysine (Lys). The selective sensing behavior of the probe ITQ was observed using absorption and emission spectral results. Further, the probe ITQ exhibits a strong binding affinity for Lys [1.4 × 104 M- 1] and detects and quantifies Lys even in its nanomolar concentration. Moreover, the probe ITQ detects Lys at 1:2 binding stoichiometry with suitable biological pH [4-11]. Furthermore, the probe ITQ was also successfully utilized to detect Lys in tablets, real samples (avocado, soyabean and pork) and in live HeLa cells.

A dual-function fluorescence 'turn-on' probe that allows Zn (II) bioimaging and quantification of water in the organic solvent

Herein, a Eugenol-derived fluorescence 'turn-on' probe FLHE was synthesized by condensing 2-((3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)amino)benzohydrazide with 5-allyl-2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde. FLHE demonstrated very low fluorescence in the studied organic solvents of varying polarities. However, upon titration with Zn2+ in HEPES buffer (pH = 7.4, 50% ACN, v/v), FLHE showed 40-fold higher fluorescence signals indicating the formation of the FLHE-Zn2+ complex. The fluorescence turn-on phenomenon upon FLHE-Zn2+ complex formation results from a chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF) effect. The FLHE-Zn2+ complexation demonstrated a stokes shift of 156 nm (λex = 350 nm, λem = 506 nm) and an about 33-fold increase in the quantum yield (FLHE, Φ = 0.007; FLHE-Zn2+ complex, Φ = 0.23). The binding constant (Ka) determined by the Benesi-Hildebrand plot for interaction between FLHE and Zn2+ was 5.33 × 103 M-1. FLHE demonstrated a LOD of 31.8 nM for detecting Zn2+ in the environmental samples without interference from other cations and anions. FLHE-based paper strip (FLHE-PS) assay was developed to quantify the Zn2+ ions in water and the water content of organic solvent. FLHE-PS allows the detection of Zn2+ in aqueous solutions with a LOD of 63.2 nM and quantifying water in acetonitrile with a LOD of 0.14%. These results indicate that the FLHE has high applicability for detecting Zn2+ in living cells and environmental samples and detecting the presence of water in the organic solvents.

SPR based gold nano-probe as optical sensor for cysteine detection via plasmonic enhancement in the presence of Cr3

A selective and sensitive detection of L-cysteine (Cys) is an important tool for various biological studies. Here, Au nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by chemical reduction technique. The probe was developed to detect and quantify Cys in the presence of Cr³⁺ ions which acts as a cross linker. The citrate capped Au NPs probe was analyzed by UV-visible spectrophotometry, TEM, EDAX, FTIR, DLS, XPS and zetasize. The zeta potential and effective size of Au NPs were -41.22 mV and 12 nm, respectively. The Cys interaction with Au NPs showed drastic colour variation from red to purple and colourless with rapid response time of 1 min. The limit of detection (LOD) of Au NPs probe was as low as 0.012 nM. The TEM image of Au NPs after Cys interaction verified the aggregation that resulted in colour change. The XPS core level scans of Au 4f showed 0.3 eV red shift when Cyswas interacted. The Au NPs sensor is highly selective for Cys with excellent reproducibility. Acidic pH slightly favored Cys detection. Further, the probe was applied to estimate Cys quantity from milk, urine, blood and environmental augmented samples in the presence of other amino acids . The study suggests that the proposed Au NPs could detect Cys with high accuracy from various biological samples.

Ag0 decorated Cr2S3 NPs embedded on PVP matrix: A colorimetric probe for selective and rapid detection of sulphide ions from environmental samples

Globally, the environmental pollution is one of the major issues causing toxicity towards human and aquatic life. We have developed a facile and innovative sensing approach for detection of sulphide ions (S^2-) present in the aqueous media using Ag⁰ decorated Cr₂S₃ NPs embedded on PVP matrix (Ag/Cr₂S₃-PVP). Based on the SPR phenomena, the detection of S^2- ions was established. The nanohybrid was characterized using various techniques such as UV-vis spectrophotometer, High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM), Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction analysis(XRD), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The yellowish colour of Ag/Cr₂S₃-PVP nanohybrid turned to brown colour in presence of S^2- ions. The selectivity and sensitivity of the prepared probe was studied against the other interfering metal ions. In addition, the effect of different concentration of S^2- ions in the nanohybrid solution was investigated and the Limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 6.6 nM. The good linearity was found over the range of 10 nM to 100 μM with R² value of 0.981. The paper strip based probe was developed for rapid onsite monitoring of S^2- ions. The proposed method is found to be cost-effective, rapid, and simple. We have validated the practical applicability of the prepared probe for determining the concentration of S^2- ions in real water samples.

Mitochondria-targeted dual-channel colorimetric and fluorescence chemosensor for detection of Sn2+ ions in aqueous solution based on aggregation-induced emission and its bioimaging applications

Several fluorescence and colorimetric chemosensory for Sn²⁺ detection in an aqueous media have been reported, but applications remain limited for discriminative Sn²⁺ detection in live human cells and zebrafish larvae. Herein, a mitochondria-targeted Sn²⁺ "turn-on" colorimetric and fluorescence chemosensor, 2CTA, with an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) response was developed. The sensing of Sn²⁺ was enabled by a reduction-enabled binding pathway, with the conversion of -C˭O groups to -C-OH groups at the naphthoquinone moiety. The color changed from light maroon to milky white in a buffered aqueous solution. The chemosensor 2CTA possessed the excellent characteristics of good water solubility, fast response (less than 10 s), and high sensitivity (79 nM) and selectivity for Sn²⁺ over other metal ions, amino acids, and peptides. The proposed binding mechanism was experimentally verified by means of FT-IR and NMR studies. The chemosensor 2CTA was successfully employed to recognize Sn²⁺ in live human cells and in zebrafish larvae. In addition, a colocalization study proved that the chemosensor had the ability to target mitochondria and overlapped almost completely with MitoTracker Red. Furthermore, a bioimaging study of live cells demonstrated the discriminative detection of Sn²⁺ in human cancer cells and the practical applications of 2CTA in biological systems.

A potent multifunctional Ag/Co-polyvinylpyrrolidone nanocomposite for enhanced detection of Cr(III) from environmental samples and its photocatalytic and antibacterial applications

Trivalent chromium (Cr(III)) is considered to exhibit hormesis (bi-phasic dose-response) property, where low dose be beneficial and high dose shows toxic effect. The present work describe the development of a bimetallic Ag/Co-polyvinylpyrrolidone nanocomposite (Ag/Co-PVP NPs) probe to detect and quantify Cr(III) ions from aqueous samples. The hydrodynamic size and zeta potential of the particle was determined to be 29 ± 1.3 nm and -37.19 ± 2.4 mV respectively. The interaction of Cr(III) with Ag/Co-PVP probe showed drastic change in colour of NPs from dark brown to pale yellow, with corresponding blue shift, tapering width and increased peak intensity. The probe showed high specificity towards Cr(III) among the tested metal ions. A linearity was observed between various dilutions of Cr(III) ions (10 to 50 nM) and the absorbance of Ag/Co-PVP NPs at 428 nm with R² value of 0.998. The minimum detectable limit of Cr(III) was calculated to be 0.6 nM. The influence of salinity, temperature and pH on detection was studied. The probe was found to detect Cr(III) at acidic pH effectively. Competitive metal ions did not interfere the detection of Cr(III). The water sample collected from Noyyal river was taken to estimate Cr(III) by using the prepared probe to ensure practical applicability. The sample contains 9.3 nM of Cr(III) that was cross verified with AAS analysis. Hence, it is understood that the reported probe can be used to detect Cr(III) selectively with high accuracy from aqueous samples. In addition, the particles also exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity under visible light. Ag/Co-PVP nanocomposites exhibited excellent antibacterial activity against both gram +ve (B. subtilis) and gram -ve (E. coli) bacteria.

Highly selective and sensitive tool for the detection of Hg(II) using 3-(Trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate functionalized Ag-Ce nanocomposite from real water sample

Mercury and its derivates cause distinct toxicity and it is detrimental to the ecosystem where the excessive concentration contributes towards the environmental pollutants. The current study reported a colorimetric method for the detection of Hg(II) ion with high specificity and selectivity using Ag-Ce nanocomposite (NC) functionalized by 3-(Trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate. The synthesized Ag-Ce NC was characterized by using double beam UV-visible spectrophotometer, zeta sizer, EDS, TEM, FT-IR, XRD and particle size analyzer. The synthesized particle possessed an average particle size of 27 ± 1 nm and zeta potential of -39.32 ± 3 mV. The brownish yellow colored Ag-Ce NC changed to colorless in presence of Hg(II) where the colorimetric detection was extremely specific and superior towards Hg(II) ion on comparing the tests with other metal ions. An excellent linear correlation was observed between absorbance (395 nm) and Hg(II) concentrations (1 nM-10 μM) (R² = 0.988) with LOD of 0.03 nM. A cotton swab based probe was prepared for selective, elegant and low cost colorimetric method to detect Hg(II). The parametric study was performed for optimizing the suitable condition. The colorimetric probe developed by this study for Hg(II) detection using Ag-Ce NC shows excellent practical applicability.

Uncompetitive nanomolar dimeric indenoindole inhibitors of the human breast cancer resistance pump ABCG2

Multidrug resistance membrane pumps reduce the efficacy of chemotherapies by exporting a wide panel of structurally-divergent drugs. Here, to take advantage of the polyspecificity of the human Breast Cancer Resistance Protein (BCRP/ABCG2) and the dimeric nature of this pump, new dimeric indenoindole-based inhibitors from the monomeric α,β-unsaturated ketone 4b and phenolic derivative 5a were designed. A library of 18 homo/hetero-dimers was synthesised. Homo-dimerization shifted the inhibition efficacy from sub-micromolar to nanomolar range, correlated with the presence of 5a, linked by a 2-6 methylene-long linker. Non-toxic, the best dimers displayed a therapeutic ratio as high as 70,000. It has been found that the high potency of the best compound 7b that displays a K_I of 17 nM is due to an uncompetitive behavior toward mitoxantrone efflux and specific for that drug, compared to Hoechst 33342 efflux. Such property may be useful to target such anticancer drug efflux mediated by ABCG2. Finally, at a molecular level, an uncompetitive mechanism by which substrate promotes inhibitor binding implies that at least 2 ligands should bind simultaneously to the drug-binding pocket of ABCG2.