Aptamer-tagged silver nanoclusters for cell image and Mucin1 detection in vitro

Development of specific cell imaging technology for accurate tumor early diagnosis and evaluation of drug therapeutic efficiency is in great demand. In this study, a simple and sensitive fluorescence method for Mucin1 (MUC1) image in situ and quantitative assay in vitro has been established using APT-tagged silver nanoclusters (APT-Agnes) containing a recognition unit of MUC1 aptamer as the label-free fluorescence probe. The principle of the method is that specific recognition and binding of MUC1 with aptamer can result in the fluorescence quenching of APT-Agnes. The method for MUC1 assay showed a linear range from 0.1 to 100 NM with a limit of detection of 0.05 nM. Furthermore, the fluorescent probe of APT-AgNCs was successfully used for detection of MUC1 in serum and MCF-7 cell imaging. In our point, the above results demonstrated that the new simple method provided an alternative for direct quantitative assay of MUC1 in homogeneous solution and cell imaging, which is helpful for biomedical study and clinical diagnosis related with MUC1.