Detection of biothiols in cells by a terbium chelate-Hg (II) system

Tan, Hongliang; Chen, Yang

doi:doi:10.1117/1.JBO.17.1.017001

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Journal of Biomedical Optics / Volume 17 / Issue 1 / Research Papers: Sensing

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Detection of biothiols in cells by a terbium chelate-Hg (II) system

J. Biomed. Opt. 17, 017001 (Jan 19, 2012); http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.17.1.017001

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Abstract

References (41)

Hongliang Tan and Yang Chen

Southeast University, State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Nanjing 210096, China

Great efforts have been devoted to the development of sensitive and specific analysis methods for biothiols because of their important roles in biological systems. We present a new detection system for biothiols that is based on the reversible quenching and restoration of fluorescence of terbium chelate caused by Hg²⁺ and thiol species. In the presence of biothiols, a restoration of fluorescence of terbium chelate after quenching by Hg²⁺ was observed due to the interaction of Hg²⁺ with thiol groups, and the restored fluorescence increased with the concentration of biothiols. This method was sensitive and selective for biothiols. The detection limit was 80 nM for glutathione, 100 nM for Hcy, and 400 nM for Cysteine, respectively. The terbium chelate-Hg (II) system was successfully applied to determine the levels of biothiols in cancer cells and urine samples. Further, it was also shown to be comparable to Ellman’s assay. Compared to other fluorescence methods, the terbium chelate probe is advantageous because interference from short-lived nonspecific fluorescence can be efficiently eliminated due to the long fluorescence lifetime of terbium chelate, which allows for detection by time-resolved fluorescence. The terbium chelate probe can serve as a diagnostic tool for the detection of abnormal levels of biothiols in disease.

History

Received Jul 27, 2011
Revised Oct 28, 2011
Published online Jan 19, 2012

Digital Object Identifier

http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.17.1.017001

Citation

Hongliang Tan and Yang Chen, "Detection of biothiols in cells by a terbium chelate-Hg (II) system", J. Biomed. Opt. 17, 017001 (Jan 19, 2012); http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.17.1.017001