A sensitive chemiluminescence method for the determination of cysteine based on silver nanoclusters

We have developed a sensitive chemiluminescent (CL) assay for cysteine. It is based on the use of water-soluble and fluorescent silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs) which are found to be able to strongly enhance the weak CL signal resulting from the redox reaction between Ce(IV) ion and sulfite ion. This enhancement is inhibited by cysteine under appropriate conditions. Taking advantage of this specific CL inhibition, a novel CL method for the sensitive and selective detection of cysteine was developed. This effect is interpreted in terms of an electronic energy transfer from excited state intermediate sulfur dioxide (originating from the CL reaction between Ce(IV) and sulfite ions) to the Ag-NCs. The latter become electronically excited and thus can act as a new source of emission. The method was applied to the determination of cysteine in the range from 5.0?nM to 1.0?μM, with a detection limit at 2.5?nM (S/N?=?3).

Direct chemiluminescence determination of cysteine in human serum using quinine-Ce(IV) system

A simple, sensitive and selective chemiluminescence (CL) method was developed for the determination of cysteine. This method is based on that the weak CL of cysteine oxidized with cerium (IV) can be greatly enhanced by quinine. The calibration curve was linear over the range 3.5×10⁻⁹-3.5×10⁻⁶ M with a detection limit of 2.5×10⁻⁹ M (S/N=3). The RSD was found to be 8.4% by 10 replicate determinations of 2.9×10⁻⁸ M cysteine. Due to high sensitivity, the proposed method can be used directly to determine the total concentration of cysteine in human serum through simply diluting the sample for a thousand fold. The obtained result was in agreement with that given by amino acid autoanalyzer. The present method does not require any separation, showing a simpler analytical characteristic. The mechanism of the CL reaction was also discussed.     

Determination of cysteine in a pharmaceutical formulation by flow injection analysis with a chemiluminescence detector

A simple and convenient flow injection-chemiluminescence (FI-CL) method for the determination of cysteine is reported, based on a fast and strong CL in a basic luminol-cysteine-NaIO₄ solution. The linear range was 1.0×10⁻⁸ to 1.0×10⁻⁶ M with a detection limit (3s) of 5×10⁻⁹ M, which was 100 times more sensitive than previously reported CL methods. Singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radical and hydrogen peroxide were suggested to be produced in this reaction and were responsible for the CL of cysteine. This simple method has been successfully applied for the determination of cysteine in a pharmaceutical formulation.     

Direct determination of reduced glutathione in biological fluids by Ce(IV)-quinine chemiluminescence

A simple, sensitive and selective chemiluminescence (CL) method is proposed for the determination of reduced glutathione (GSH) in biological fluids. This method is based on the fact that the weak CL of GSH oxidized with cerium(IV) can be greatly enhanced by quinine. The optimum conditions for the CL emission were investigated. The calibration curve for GSH was linear over the concentration range of 4.0 × 10⁻⁹-4.0 × 10⁻⁵ M with a detection limit of 5 × 10⁻¹⁰ M (S/N = 3). The R.S.D. was found to be 4.0% by 11 replicate determinations of 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ M GSH. It was also found that GSH and cysteine, the two often-coexisting thiol compounds in biological samples, exhibited a different CL sensitivity in the Ce(IV)-quinine system (the sensitivity of GSH was higher than that of cysteine). This leads to the successful use of the proposed method for the direct and selective determination of GSH in rabbit whole blood and rat brain microdialysate in the presence of cysteine. Moreover, compared to the classical 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) method, the present one has the advantages of simplicity and high sensitivity.     

Fluorosurfactant-prepared triangular gold nanoparticles as postcolumn chemiluminescence reagents for high-performance liquid chromatography assay of low molecular weight aminothiols in biological fluids

Our recent study demonstrates the synthesized triangular gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by trisodium citrate reduction of HAuCl(4) in the presence of nonionic fluorosurfactant (FSN) could display stronger catalytic activity towards luminol-chemiluminescence (CL) than spherical AuNPs. Ultratrace aminothiols may cause a great decrease in CL intensity of the triangular AuNPs-luminol CL system. In this article, we utilize the as-prepared triangular AuNPs as novel postcolumn CL reagents to explore a simple high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-CL method for the determination of low molecular weight aminothiols (i.e., cysteine, homocysteine, glutathione, cysteinylglycine and glutamylcysteine). The as-prepared triangular AuNPs were easier to synthesize, stable at a wider pH range and high ionic strength, and highly selective and sensitive towards reduced aminothiols. The detection limits at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 for cysteine, homocysteine, glutathione, cysteinylglycine and glutamylcysteine were 0.016, 0.08, 0.1, 0.04 and 0.1pmol, respectively. Recoveries from spiked urine and plasma samples were 95.7-104.3%. The applicability of the proposed method has been validated by determining these low molecular weight aminothiols in human urine and plasma samples with satisfactory results, and thus it will have great potential application in clinical diagnosis.     

A Highly Sensitive and Selective Assay for Cysteine Using the Chemiluminescence Reaction of Luminol and Hydrogen Peroxide

A very simple, highly sensitive and selective chemiluminescence (CL) method was established for the determination of cysteine. This method is based on the fact that the CL reaction of luminol and hydrogen peroxide can be greatly enhanced by cysteine. The CL intensities at maximum light emission were linearly correlated with the concentration of cysteine over the range of 2.0×10^–8–6.0×10^–6molL^–1 with a detection limit of 7.5×10^–9molL^–1. The relative standard deviation was 1.7% for the determination of 1.0×10^–7molL^–1 cysteine (n=9). The feasibility of utilizing the proposed method for the determination of total concentration of cysteine in human serum was examined.     

Design of thiolate rich metal binding sites within a peptidic framework

A de novo protein design strategy provides a powerful tool to elucidate how heavy metals interact with proteins.Cysteine derivatives of the TRI peptide family (Ac-G(LKALEEK)4G-NH2) have been shown to bind heavy metals in an unusual trigonal geometry. Our present objective was to design binding sites in R-helical scaffolds that are able to form higher coordination number complexes with Cd(II) and Hg(II). Herein, we evaluate the binding of Cd(II) and Hg(II) to double cysteine substituted TRI peptides lacking intervening leucines between sulfurs in the heptads. We compare a -Cysd-X-X-X-Cysa- binding motif found in TRIL12CL16C to the more common -Cysa-X-X-Cysd- sequence of native proteins found in TRIL9CL12C. Compared to TRI, these substitutions destabilize the helical aggregates,leading to mixtures of two- and three-stranded bundles. The three-stranded coiled coils are stabilized by the addition of metals. TRIL9CL12C forms distorted tetrahedral complexes with both Cd(II) and Hg(II), as supported by UV-vis,CD, 113Cd NMR, 199Hg NMR and 111mCd PAC spectroscopy. Additionally, these signatures are very similar to those found for heavy metal substituted rubredoxin. These results suggest that in terms of Hg(II) binding, TRIL9CL12Ccan be considered as a good mimic of the metallochaperone HAH1, that has previously been shown to form protein dimers. TRIL12CL16C has limited ability to generate homoleptic tetrahedral complexes (Cd(SR)42-). These type of complexes were identified only for Hg(II). However, the spectroscopic signatures suggest a different geometry around the metal ion, demonstrating that effective metal sequestration into the hydrophobic interior of the bundle requires more than simply adding two sulfur residues in adjacent layers of the peptide core. Thus, proper design of metal binding sites must also consider the orientation of cysteine sidechains in a vs d positions of the heptads.     

Determination of intracellular sulphydryl compounds by microchip electrophoresis with selective chemiluminescence detection

An analytical method based on microchip electrophoresis (MCE) and chemiluminescence detection (CL) was developed for the determination of intracellular sulphydryl compounds. Cell injection/loading, cytolysis, electrophoretic separation, and CL detection were integrated onto a simple cross-microfluidic chip. Selective CL detection of sulphydryl compounds was achieved by deploying the luminol–Na₂S₂O₈ reaction. Under the CL conditions selected, many endogenous compounds in biological systems such as amino acids, biogenic amines, peptides and proteins did not produce any CL signal, which further ensured a high selectivity of the proposed MCE–CL assays. Sulphydryl compounds including cysteine (Cys), glutathione (GSH), and hemoglobin (Hb) were selected as the test compounds. The MCE separation was completed within 120 s. The detection limits were estimated to be 7 amol for Cys, 32 amol for GSH and 69 amol for Hb, respectively. The present method was applied to analyze individual red blood cells collected from both healthy subjects and cancer patients. It was found that the average intracellular contents of Cys, GSH and Hb were in the ranges of 26–43 amol/cell, 128–323 amol/cell and 522–667 amol/cell, respectively for cancer patients, compared to 579–609 amol Hb/cell and not detectable Cys and GSH for healthy subjects.     

Chemiluminescent Logic Gates Based on Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles/Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites

Label‐free logic gates (AND, OR, and INHIBIT) based on chemiluminescence (CL) as new optical readout signal have been developed by taking advantage of the unique CL activity of luminol‐ and lucigenin‐functionalized gold nanoparticles/graphene oxide (luminol‐lucigenin/AuNPs/GO) nanocomposites. It was found that Fe²⁺ ions could induce the CL emission of luminol‐lucigenin/AuNPs/GO nanocomposites in alkaline solution. On this basis, by using Fe²⁺ ions and NaOH as the inputs and the CL signal as the output, an AND logic gate was fabricated. When the initial reaction system contained luminol‐lucigenin/AuNPs/GO nanocomposites and NaOH, either Fe²⁺ ions or Ag⁺ ions could react with the luminol‐lucigenin/AuNPs/GO nanocomposites to produce a strong CL emission. This result was used to design an OR logic gate using Fe²⁺ ions and Ag⁺ ions as the inputs and CL signal as the output. Moreover, two INHIBIT logic gates for Fe²⁺ and Ag⁺ were also developed using by NaClO and L ‐cysteine as their CL inhibitors, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed logic gates were successfully used to detect Fe²⁺, Ag⁺, and L ‐cysteine, respectively. The developed logic gates may find future applications in sensing, clinical diagnostics, and environmental monitoring.     

Determination of riboflavin by enhancing the chemiluminescence intensity of peroxomonosulfate-cobalt(II) system

A weak chemiluminescent (CL) emission was observed in the decomposition of peroxomonosulfate (HSO5-), which would be accelerated in the presence of trace amounts of cobalt (II). The mechanism was due to the production of singlet oxygen (1O2). Interestedly, riboflavin can enhance the CL and the CL intensity was strongly dependent on riboflavin concentration. Based on this phenomenon, a flow injection analysis (FIA) CL method was established for the determination of riboflavin. Additionally, the possible CL mechanism is proposed based on the kinetic curve of the CL reaction, CL spectra, UV-vis spectra and fluorescent spectra. The CL intensity was correlated linearly with concentration of riboflavin over the range of 1.0x10(-4) to 1.0x10(-8) g mL-1; the detection limit was 9.0x10(-9) g mL-1(S/N=3); the relative standard deviation was 1.4% for 9x10(-7) g mL-1 riboflavin (n=11). Furthermore, this method was applied to the determination of riboflavin in real tablets and injections successfully.     

Site-selective metal binding by designed alpha-helical peptides

It is known that the designed alpha-helical peptide family TRI [(Ac-G(LKALEEK)4G-CONH2)], containing single site substitution of a cysteine for a leucine, is capable of binding Cd(II) within a three-stranded coiled coil. The binding affinity of cadmium is dependent upon the site of substitution, with cysteine incorporated at the a site leading to cadmium complexes of higher affinity than when a d site was modified. In this work we have examined whether this differential binding affinity can be expressed in a di-cysteine-substituted peptide in order to develop site specificity within a designed system. The peptide TRI L9CL19C was used to determine whether significant differences in binding affinities at nearly proximal sites could be achieved in a short designed peptide. On the basis of 113Cd, 1H NMR, and circular dichroic spectroscopies, we have shown that 1 equiv of Cd(II) binds exclusively at the a site. Only after that position is filled does the second site become populated. Thus, the TRI system represents the first example where stoichiometrically equivalent peptides with different sequences form the framework for designing molecular assemblies that show site-specific ion recognition. We propose that the distinct metal affinities are due to the cysteine conformers at different substitution points along the peptide. Furthermore, we have shown that site selectivity in biomolecules can be encoded into relatively short peptides with helical sequences and, therefore, do not necessarily require the extensive protein scaffolds found in natural systems.     

Flow Injection Chemiluminescence Determination of Prednisone Acetate by Oxidation with N-Bromosuccinimide

A simple flow injection chemiluminescence (CL) method for the determination of prednisone acetate was developed. This method is based on the fact that the strong CL of N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) and calcein can be inhibited by prednisone acetate. The CL intensity correlated linearly with the concentration of prednisone acetate over the ranges of 0.02–0.4 mg/L and 0.4–10 mg/L. The CL mechanism was also proposed. The detection limit (3σ) of prednisone acetate was 13 ng/mL and the relative standard deviation was 1.3% at 0.1 mg/L prednisone acetate (n = 11 measurements). This method was applied to the determination of prednisone acetate in the tablets with good results.     

Determination of Nicotinamide in Food and Human Fluid Samples by Capillary

A rapid and simple capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with chemiluminescence (CL) detection was proposed for analysis of nicotinamide. This method was based on the inhibitory effect of nicotinamide to CL reaction of luminol‐K₃Fe(CN)₆ in alkaline aqueous solution. Under the optimal conditions, nico‐tinamide can be assayed in the range of 0.01–10.0 μM with a limit of detection of 3.0 nM. The whole analysis process can be completed within 11 min. The relative standard deviations of the signal intensity and the migration time were 3.0% and 1.5% for a standard sample at 0.1 μM, respectively. The presented CE‐CL method was successfully applied to the determination of nicotinamide in yogurt, human urine and plasma samples.     

CdTe量子点增敏鲁米诺-KMnO4化学发光对间苯二酚的测定

碱性介质中,CdTe量子点能够强烈地增强鲁米诺-KMnO4体系的化学发光,间苯二酚对该体系的化学发光有很强的抑制作用.该文结合流动注射分析法,建立了测定间苯二酚的新方法,并对可能的反应机理进行了探讨.结果表明,在优化实验条件下,间苯二酚在1.0×10-9 ～5.0×10-5 mol/L的浓度范围内与发光强度呈良好的线性关系,检出限(S/N=3)为8.0×10-10 mol/L.对于1.0×10-7 mol/L间苯二酚,测定11次的相对标准偏差为2.6%.将该体系用于水样中间苯二酚的测定,回收率为96% ～104%,相对标准偏差为1.9% ～3.3%.     

Xanthene Dye Chemiluminescence for Determination of Free Chlorine in Water

Abstract

Preliminary investigations by a batch method are described for aiming at the flow determination of free chlorine in water with novel chemiluminescence (CL) detection. The CL originates from the reaction of xanthene dyes with free chlorine, Cl₂, HOCl, and OCl^?. Through the measurements of CL decay curves, fundamental CL characteristics were explored from the analytical point of view. Among xanthene dyes tested, eosin Y. eosin B. pyronin B. and rhodamine 6G were found to be promising CL reagents with such sensitivity and selectivity that free chlorine can be readily determined in tap water. In particular. these CL systems have the special advantage of being insensitive to oxo acids of chlorine and chloramine. Recommended flow systems are proposed.     

Determination of trace aluminum (III) using a novel cerium (IV)-calcein chemiluminescence detection

A simple, sensitive and selective chemiluminescence (CL) method was developed for the direct determination of aluminum (Al). This method is based on that the weak CL of cerium (IV)-calcein can be greatly enhanced by Al(III). The calibration curve was linear over the range 2.0 x 10(-10) to 4.0 x 10(-8)g mL(-1) with a detection limit of 8 x 10(-11)g mL(-1) (3sigma). The R.S.D. was 2.5% by 11 replicated determinations of 1.0 x 10(-9)g mL(-1) Al(III). The proposed method has been used to determine the concentration of Al(III) in real water samples with satisfactory results. The mechanism of the CL reaction was also discussed.     

雌二醇的流动注射阻抑化学发光法测定

基于碱性介质中雌二醇对N-溴代丁二酰亚胺-钙黄绿素化学发光体系的阻抑作用,建立了雌二醇的流动注射化学发光分析新方法,优化了其分析条件,并初步探讨了该化学发光反应的机理。该方法测定雌二醇的线性范围为0.02~0.1、0.1~8.0 mg/L,检出限为0.008 5 mg/L。对0.1 mg/L的雌二醇标准溶液进行11次平行测定,相对标准偏差为1.2%。将该法用于注射液中雌二醇的测定,结果满意。     

A novel chemiluminescence technique for quantitative measurement of low concentration human serum albumin.

An efficient and highly sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) technique is proposed in the current study for detection of low levels of human serum albumin (HSA). Chemiluminescence (CL) produced during interaction between fluoresceinyl cypridina luciferin analog (FCLA)-1O2 can be modified with the presence of HSA. The conventional CL technique uses a quenching effect of HSA for its quantitative measurement. We are reporting here that the CL intensity can be enhanced, rather than quenched, by the addition of HSA. The CL signal can be linearly correlated with the HSA concentration over a clinically interesting range of 5 x 10(-9) - 8 x 10(-8) mol L(-1), with a detection limit of 2.5 x 10(-9) mol L(-1). The determination result was consistent with that obtained from conventional methods. One possible mechanism of HSA detection technique using CL enhancement approach is discussed. Intermolecular energy transfer in chemiluminescence systems and changes of microenvironment are likely to be contributors of the CL enhancement with HSA.     

Platinum nanoparticle-catalyzed lucigenin–hydrazine chemiluminescence

It was found that lucigenin alkaline solution could react with hydrazine in the presence of Pt nanoparticles to generate strong chemiluminescence (CL) centered at 480 nm. In order to explore the CL mechanism, UV–visible spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectra studies before and after the CL reaction were carried out. The effects of O₂ and superoxide dismutase (SOD) on the CL reaction were examined. The catalytic effect of Pt NPs on the hydrazine–O₂ reaction was studied. A possible mechanism is proposed to be due to that Pt NPs catalyzed the reaction between hydrazine and the dissolved oxygen under alkaline conditions to yield hydroperoxide species and superoxide radical anion, which further oxidized lucigenin to produce CL emission. Moreover, the effects of some organic compounds containing hydroxyl (OH), carboxyl (COOH), carbonyl (CO), amino (NH₂), or sulfur groups on the lucigenin–hydrazine–Pt NPs CL system were tested. Thiol-containing compounds such as cysteine (Cys), glutathione (GSH), homocysteine (Hcy), and 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) were observed to greatly enhance the CL intensity. It is suggested that the CL enhancement might be due to the fact that thiol-containing compounds could facilitate the electron transfer process under the catalysis of Pt nanoparticles and accelerate the generation of OH and O₂^? radicals, leading to the strong CL.