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Updated: Apr 17, 2026
A Rapid and Quantitative Fluorimetric Method for Protein-Targeting Small Molecule Drug Screening
Published on: October 16, 2015
Aggregation-induced structure transition of protein-stabilized zinc/copper nanoclusters for amplified
Hui Chen1, Ling Lin, Haifang Li
1MOE Key Laboratory of Wooden Material Science and Application, Beijing Forestry University , Beijing, 100083, China.
Abstract:
A stable, water-soluble fluorescent Zn/Cu nanocluster (NC) capped with a model protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA), was synthesized and applied to the reaction of hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydrogen carbonate. A significantly amplified chemiluminescence (CL) from the accelerated decomposition of peroxymonocarbonate (HCO4(-)) by the nanosluster was observed. The CL reaction led to a structure change of BSA and aggregation of Zn/Cu NCs. In the presence of H2O2, Zn/Cu-S bonding between BSA scaffolds and the encapsulated Zn/Cu@BSA NC was oxidized to form a disulfide product. Zn/Cu@BSA NCs were prone to aggregate to form larger nanoparticles without the protection of scaffolds. It is revealed that the strong CL emission was initiated from the catalysis of Zn/Cu@BSA NC and the surface plasmon coupling of the formed Zn/Cu nanoparticles in a single chemical reaction. This amplified CL was successfully exploited for selective sensing of hydrogen peroxide in environmental samples.
