Lysosomes are of great significance to cell growth, metabolism, and survival, as they independently maintain acidity and regulate various balances in cells. Therefore, it is essential to develop advanced probes for lysosome visualization and live tracking. Herein, a type of lysosome-targeting probe based on boron (B) and nitrogen (N) co-doped carbon quantum dots (B/N-CQDs) is presented, which exhibits red emission at 618 nm, high quantum yield (28%), and excellent fluorescence stability (97% at 1 h). These B/N-CQDs are prepared by a novel and green solid-state reaction and purified using a simple extraction process without additional chemical modifications. It is found that the boron dopants in the structure play a crucial role in the resultant lysosome-specific targeting property through borate esterification between boronic acid groups in the sample and diol structures in glycoproteins. This can be applied as a powerful tool for cell apoptosis, necrosis, and endosomal escape tracking. This work not only offers a new concept for targeted subcellular probe designs via chemical doping but also demonstrates the feasibility of these tools for analyzing complex cellular physiological activities.
Rational design of microsystems and efficient integration of various functional modules that can directly realize the aimed functions are very attractive for portable and onsite practical applications, which is also significant in developing miniaturized and intelligent electronics and equipment. Unlike the conventional electrochemical glucose sensors that always need auxiliary complex systems for power supply, signal processing, and feedbacks, we design an all‐printed glucose sensor integrated with a zinc ion microbattery (ZIMB) as a micropower source for portable and onsite quick glucose detections. The integrated glucose sensor (GS) and ZIMB (iGS‐ZIMB) system possesses a high areal energy density of 247.3 μWh/cm2 and power density of 1193 μW/cm2 and exhibits high sensitivity up to 464.2 μA/mM/cm2, wide linear range of 0.5–6.0 mM, and good reproducibility in glucose detections. Through a simple amplification circuit design, the glucose concentration signals could be displayed within a short response time of 1.6 s without the need of external auxiliary equipment. Such iGS‐ZIMB microsystem has prominent advantages in efficiency and cost and is promising for onsite medical and healthcare applications.
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