Imaging Different Interactions of Mercury and Silver with Live Cells by a Designed Fluorescence Probe Rhodamine B Selenolactone

Abstract

Rhodamine B selenolactone has been designed, synthesized, and characterized as a new fluorescent probe for imaging both Hg(2+) and Ag(+) in live cells to better understand their distinct toxicities to organisms. The probe is designed based on the fact that selenium has a strong affinity for mercury and silver, and is constructed by incorporating a Se atom into the spirocyclic structure of rhodamine. It exhibits a rapid and specific spectroscopic off-on response to Hg(2+) and Ag(+) instead of other species, with detection limits of 23 nM Hg(2+) and 52 nM Ag(+). Moreover, the probe is membrane-permeable, and can react with Ag(+) even in the presence of Cl(-) because of the higher affinity of Se than Cl(-) for Ag(+), which makes it of potential use for imaging not only Hg(2+) but also Ag(+) in live cells. This applicability has been demonstrated by imaging Hg(2+) and Ag(+) in Hela cells. It is observed that the reaction of Ag(+) with the probe inside the cells occurs much slower than that of Hg(2+), which is ascribed to the high concentration of cellular chloride ions inhibiting the formation of sufficient free Ag(+). The present finding is helpful to get an insight into the different interaction mechanism of Hg(2+) and Ag(+) with cells, and more applications of the probe may be expected for studying the behaviors of Hg(2+) and Ag(+) in various biosystems.

A Selenone-Functionalized Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane for Selective Detection and Adsorption of Hg2+ ions in Aqueous Solutions

“…It is well-known that sulfur-based adsorbents have found important applications in the detection and/or adsorption of Hg 2+ ions, which is one of the most toxic and hazardous heavy metal ions and greatly threatens environmental safety and human health [34,35]. However, there are few examples of selenium-based Hg 2+ sensors or adsorbents [31,36,37]. Thus, POSS-Se was used to detect and adsorb Hg 2+ ions in aqueous solutions.…”

“…and human health [34,35]. However, there are few examples of selenium-based Hg 2+ sensors or adsorbents [31,36,37]. Thus, POSS-Se was used to detect and adsorb Hg 2+ ions in aqueous solutions.…”

“…POSS-Se (HCl) exhibits a high sensitivity towards Hg 2+ with a low LOD of 8.48 ppb (Figure 4c). The acquired value is comparable to or higher than many reported sensors [39], such as Fe 3 O 4 @TiO 2 -L (L=2,6-bis(2-thienyl)pyridine, 1.40 ppm) [40], thioether-based fluorescent covalent organic framework (COF-LZU8, 25.0 ppb) [41], metal-organic framework (NH 2 -MIL-53(Al), 30.13 ppb (0.15 µM)) [42], nature fibers modified by polymer chains (MA−SAPQA@NFs, 16.72 ppb (0.08 µM)) [43], silica modified by an anthracene excimer (SiO 2 @PBATPA, 37 ppb) [44], and vesicular chemical sensor (10.64 ppb (53.0 nM)) [45], but lower than some sensors such as rhodamine B selenolactone (4.62 ppb (53.0 nM)) [37], fluorescent phosphane selenide (0.18 ppb) [46], and sulfur-doped porous reduced graphene oxide [47] ( Table 1). The lower performance may be due to the heterogenous detection by POSS-Se (HCl), which is insoluble in water, in contrast to the homogenous detection by most sensors, which are commonly soluble in water.…”

Broadband Light‐Harvesting Molecular Triads with High FRET Efficiency Based on the Coumarin–Rhodamine–BODIPY Platform

“…[3e-r] Rhodamine chromophoresa re characterized with excellent photophysical properties such as long absorption and emission wavelengths, high fluorescenceq uantum yields, large extinction coefficients, good photostability and solubility in many solvents ystems, and they also can be conveniently modified on the dye core. [5] Thus,t he rhodamine familyi sagood candidatef or the energy-acceptor core. Thep rimary processes of photochemical reactions begin with the event of absorption of light.…”

A new Cu2+-induced color reaction of a rhodamine derivative N-(3-carboxy)acryloyl rhodamine B hydrazide

“…In connection with a program of investigating new spectroscopic probes, a series of rhodamine probes have been developed in our laboratory [3,5,[24][25][26][27]. In the present study, we report the synthesis of a new rhodamine derivative, N-(3-carboxy)acryloyl rhodamine B hydrazide (CARB; Scheme 1), and its unusual spectroscopic reaction with Cu 2+ .…”