On the basis of the remarkable difference in affinity of graphene (GO) with ssDNA containing a different number of bases in length, we for the first time report a GO-DNAzyme based biosensor for amplified fluorescence "turn-on" detection of Pb(2+). A FAM-labeled DNAzyme-substrate hybrid acted as both a molecular recognition module and signal reporter and GO as a superquencher. By taking advantage of the super fluorescence quenching efficiency of GO, our proposed biosensor exhibits a high sensitivity toward the target with a detection limit of 300 pM for Pb(2+), which is lower than previously reported for catalytic beacons. Moreover, with the choice of a classic Pb(2+)-dependent GR-5 DNAzyme instead of 8-17 DNAzyme as the catalytic unit, the newly designed sensing system also shows an obviously improved selectivity than previously reported methods. Moreover, the sensing system was used for the determination of Pb(2+) in river water samples with satisfying results.

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Development of novel nanomaterial-based contrast agents for targeted computed tomography (CT) imaging of tumors still remains a great challenge. Here we describe a novel approach to fabricating lactobionic acid (LA)-modified dendrimer-entrapped gold nanoparticles (LA-Au DENPs) for in vitro and in vivo targeted CT imaging of human hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study, amine-terminated poly(amidoamine) dendrimers of generation 5 pre-modified with fluorescein isothiocyanate and poly(ethylene glycol)-linked LA were employed as templates to form Au nanoparticles. The remaining dendrimer terminal amines were subjected to an acetylation reaction to form LA-Au DENPs. The prepared LA-Au DENPs were characterized via different methods. Our results reveal that the multifunctional Au DENPs with a Au core size of 2.7 nm have good stability under different pH (5-8) and temperature (4-50 °C) conditions and in different aqueous media, and are noncytotoxic to normal cells but cytotoxic to the targeted hepatocarcinoma cells in the given concentration range. In vitro flow cytometry data show that the LA-Au DENPs can be specifically uptaken by a model hepatocarcinoma cell line overexpressing asialoglycoprotein receptors through an active receptor-mediated targeting pathway. Importantly, the LA-Au DENPs can be used as a highly effective nanoprobe for specific CT imaging of hepatocarcinoma cells in vitro and the xenoplanted tumor model in vivo. The developed LA-Au DENPs with X-ray attenuation property greater than clinically employed iodine-based CT contrast agents hold a great promise to be used as a nanoprobe for targeted CT imaging of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

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