Dopamine functionalized-CdTe quantum dots as fluorescence probes for l-histidine detection in biological fluids

In this paper, we developed dopamine functionalized-CdTe quantum dots as fluorescence probes for the determination of l-histidine. Firstly, CdTe was covalently linked to dopamine to form a kind of fluorescence sensor with pyrocatechol structure on the surface. The photoluminescence intensity of CdTe-dopamine (QDs-DA) could be quenched by Ni(2+) due to the strong coordination interaction between the pyrocatechol structure of QDs-DA and Ni(2+). In the presence of l-histidine, Ni(2+) preferred to bind with l-histidine due to high affinity of Ni(2+) to l-histidine and the photoluminescence intensity of QDs-DA was recovered. The recovered photoluminescence intensity of QDs-DA was proportional to the concentration of l-histidine in the ranges of 1.0×10(-6)-1.0×10(-4)mol L(-1) and the detection limit was 5.0×10(-7)mol L(-1) respectively. The established method showed a good selectivity for l-histidine among other common amino acids, and it was applied for determination of l-histidine in human serum sample with satisfactory results.