Dopamine sensing by fluorescent carbon nanoparticles synthesized using artichoke extract

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Dopamine levels in human fluids correlate with various diseases, necessitating easy detection methods.
• Current detection methods can be complex or lack sensitivity for clinical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a straightforward, one-step synthesis of water-soluble carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) for dopamine sensing.
• To investigate the fluorescence sensing capabilities of these CNPs for dopamine detection in human fluids.

Main Methods:

• Synthesized water-soluble CNPs from artichoke extract, characterized by DLS, AFM, XPS, FT-IR, EDX, and TEM.
• Explored optical properties using UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy.
• Investigated dopamine recognition via fluorescence enhancement, determining binding affinity and detection limits.

Main Results:

• CNPs exhibited strong fluorescence enhancement upon dopamine addition, with a binding affinity of log K = 5.76 and a detection limit of 0.81 nM in solution.
• Demonstrated high selectivity for dopamine over common interfering analytes in saliva.
• Developed a point-of-care test using CNPs on a solid support and smartphone detection, achieving a 100 pM detection limit in simulated saliva.

Conclusions:

• Artichoke-derived CNPs provide a sensitive and selective platform for dopamine fluorescence sensing.
• The developed method is suitable for practical, point-of-care dopamine detection in human saliva.
• This approach holds potential for non-invasive disease diagnosis through dopamine level monitoring.