Multienzyme-Targeted Fluorescent Probe as a Biosensing Platform for Broad Detection of Pesticide Residues

Abstract

Pesticide residues, significantly hampering the overall environmental and human health, have become an increasingly severe issue. Thus, developing rapid, cost-effective, and sensitive tools for monitoring the pesticide residues in food and water is extremely important. Compared to the conventional and chromatographic techniques, enzyme inhibition-based biosensors conjugated with the fluorogenic probes provide effective alternative methods for detecting pesticide residues due to the inherent advantages including high selectivity and sensitivity, simple operation, and capability of providing in situ and real-time information. However, the detection efficiency of a single enzyme-targeted biosensor in practical samples is strongly impeded by the structural diversity of pesticides and their distinct targets. In this work, we developed a strategy of multienzyme-targeted fluorescent probe design and accordingly obtained a novel fluorescent probe (named as 3CP) for detecting the presence of wide variety of pesticides. The designed probe 3CP, targeting cholinesterases, carboxylesterases, and chymotrypsin simultaneously, yielded intense fluorescence in the solid state upon the enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis. It showed excellent sensitivity against organophosphorus and carbamate pesticides, and the detection limit for dichlorvos achieved 1.14 pg/L. Moreover, it allowed for the diffusion-resistant in situ visualization of pesticides in live cells and zebrafish and the sensitive measurement of organophosphorus pesticides in fresh vegetables, demonstrating the promising potential for tracking the pesticide residues in environment and biological systems.

Progress and Perspective of Solid-State Organic Fluorophores for Biomedical Applications

“…(C) Response mechanism of 3CP toward the several metabolic serine hydrolases. Images were reprinted with permission from (A) and (B) ref , Copyright 2018 ACS; (C) ref , Copyright 2021 ACS.…”

“…Recently, Yang et al. fabricated a solid-state fluorescent probe 24 (3CP) by introducing an acetoxyl group into Cl-HPQ for the detection of widespread pesticide residues in living cells, zebrafish, and fresh vegetables (Figure C) . 3CP exhibited a high detection capability for five metabolic serine hydrolases that are closely associated with pesticide residues.…”

Multiple Recognition-Based Sensor for Pesticide Residues

“…In addition, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), OP hydrolase, tyrosinase enzymes, and laccases can also be used for pesticide detection. Researchers developed a multi-enzyme targeted fluorescent probe to improve pesticide detection efficiency ( Guo et al, 2021 ).…”

In Vivo Contaminant Monitoring and Metabolomic Profiling in Plants Exposed to Carbamates via a Novel Microextraction Fiber

“…Contaminated foods, particularly fresh vegetables, are the major insecticide receptors and source of carbamates for nonoccupational exposure. , Moreover, detoxification processes in plants occur under contamination exposure, thus influencing the plant’s endogenous metabolism and nutritional composition. , The simultaneous investigation of metabolic dysregulation in plants related to contamination exposure and tracking of the contaminant bioaccumulation and transformation benefits exploration of the adverse ecological implications of harmful chemicals. Unfortunately, for edible plants, previous studies mostly focused on total insecticide concentrations. ,− Most metabolic toxicity-related research has been restricted to the postharvest analysis of the collected tissue samples from different individual plants at different sampling times using tediously exhaustive extraction methods. ,,, These approaches can lead to the loss of unstable and short-lived endogenous substances, which would be considerably influenced by specific differences. Furthermore, during harvest sample collection and exhaustive solvent extraction, which involves homogenization steps and organic solvent use, the disruption or conversion of endogenous metabolites might occur. , …”