Amino Nitrogen Quantum Dots-Based Nanoprobe for Fluorescence Detection and Imaging of Cysteine in Biological Samples

Fluorescent amino nitrogen quantum dots (aN-dots) were synthesized by microwave-assisted method using 2-azidoimidazole and aqueous ammonia. The aN-dots have a nitrogen component up to 40%, which exhibit high fluorescence quantum yield, good photostability, and excellent biocompatibility. We further explored the use of the aN-dots combined with AuNPs as a nanoprobe for detecting fluorescently and imaging of cysteine (Cys) in complex biological samples. In this sensing system, the fluorescence of aN-dots was quenched significantly by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), while the addition of Cys can lead to the fluorescence signal recovery. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that this strategy can offer a rapid and selective detection of Cys with a good linear relationship in the range of 0.3-3.0 μmol/L. As expected, this assay was successfully applied to the detection of Cys in human serum and plasma samples with recoveries ranging from 90.0% to 106.7%. Especially, the nanoprobe exhibits good cell membrane permeability and excellent biocompatibility by CCK-8 assay, which is favorable for bioimaging applications. Therefore, this fluorescent probe ensemble was further used for imaging of Cys in living cells, which suggests our proposed method has strong potential for clinical diagnosis. As a novel member of the quantum-dot family, the aN-dots hold great promise to broaden applications in biological systems.