Ingenieurwissenschaften und zugeordnete Tätigkeiten
Filtern
Erscheinungsjahr
- 2022 (3) (entfernen)
Dokumenttyp
Sprache
- Englisch (3)
Referierte Publikation
- ja (3)
Schlagworte
- Signal enhancement (3) (entfernen)
Organisationseinheit der BAM
Atomically precise gold nanoclusters are a fascinating class of nanomaterials that exhibit molecule-like properties and have outstanding photoluminescence (PL). Their ultrasmall size, molecular chemistry, and biocompatibility make them extremely appealing for selective biomolecule labeling in investigations of biological mechanisms at the cellular and anatomical levels. In this work, we report a simple route to incorporate a preformed Au25 nanocluster into a model bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein. A new approach combining small-angle X-ray scattering and molecular modeling provides a clear localization of a single Au25 within the protein to a cysteine residue on the gold nanocluster surface.
Attaching Au25 to BSA strikingly modifies the PL properties with enhancement and a redshift in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window. This study paves the way to conrol the design of selective sensitive probes in biomolecules through a ligand-based strategy to enable the optical detection of biomolecules in a cellular environment by live imaging.
Biofilms are ubiquitous in nature and in the man-made environment. Given their harmful effects on human health, an in-depth understanding of biofilms and the monitoring of their formation and growth are important. Particularly relevant for many metabolic processes and survival strategies of biofilms is their extracellular pH. However, most conventional techniques are not suited for minimally invasive pH measurements of living biofilms. Here, a fluorescent nanosensor is presented for ratiometric measurements of pH in biofilms in the range of pH 4.5–9.5 using confocal laser scanning microscopy. The nanosensor consists of biocompatible polystyrene nanoparticles loaded with pH-inert dye Nile Red and is surface functionalized with a pH-responsive fluorescein dye. Its performance was validated by fluorometrically monitoring the time-dependent changes in pH in E. coli biofilms after glucose inoculation at 37 °C and 4 °C. This revealed a temperature-dependent decrease in pH over a 4-h period caused by the acidifying glucose metabolism of E. coli. These studies demonstrate the applicability of this nanosensor to characterize the chemical microenvironment in biofilms with fluorescence methods.
Asymmetrically bridged aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals and aroyl-S,N-ketene acetal multichromophores can be readily synthesized in consecutive three-, four-, or five-component syntheses in good to excellent yields by several successive Suzuki-couplings of aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals and bis(boronic)acid esters. Different aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals as well as linker molecules yield a library of 23 multichromophores with substitution and linker pattern-tunable emission properties. This allows control of different communication pathways between the chromophores and of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and energy transfer (ET) properties, providing elaborate aggregation-based fluorescence switches.