Mitochondria-targeted dual-channel colorimetric and fluorescence chemosensor for detection of Sn2+ ions in aqueous solution based on aggregation-induced emission and its bioimaging applications

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125593
• Publication Date: 2021-03-09T14:58:33Z
• Authors: Palanisamy Ravich...; D.S. Prabakaran; Nikhil Maroli; Anna Boguszewska-...; Maciej Masłyk; Ae Rhan Kim; Ponmalai Kolandaivel; Prakash Ramalingam; Byung-Hyun Park; Myung-Kwan Han; Thiyagarajan Ramesh; Dong Jin Yoo
• Keywords: Ions; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Animals; Humans; Water; Colorimetry; 01 natural sciences; Zebrafish; Fluorescent Dyes; Mitochondria; 3. Good health; 0104 chemical sciences

Several fluorescence and colorimetric chemosensory for Sn2+ detection in an aqueous media have been reported, but applications remain limited for discriminative Sn2+ detection in live human cells and zebrafish larvae. Herein, a mitochondria-targeted Sn2+ "turn-on" colorimetric and fluorescence chemosensor, 2CTA, with an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) response was developed. The sensing of Sn2+ was enabled by a reduction-enabled binding pathway, with the conversion of -C˭O groups to -C-OH groups at the naphthoquinone moiety. The color changed from light maroon to milky white in a buffered aqueous solution. The chemosensor 2CTA possessed the excellent characteristics of good water solubility, fast response (less than 10 s), and high sensitivity (79 nM) and selectivity for Sn2+ over other metal ions, amino acids, and peptides. The proposed binding mechanism was experimentally verified by means of FT-IR and NMR studies. The chemosensor 2CTA was successfully employed to recognize Sn2+ in live human cells and in zebrafish larvae. In addition, a colocalization study proved that the chemosensor had the ability to target mitochondria and overlapped almost completely with MitoTracker Red. Furthermore, a bioimaging study of live cells demonstrated the discriminative detection of Sn2+ in human cancer cells and the practical applications of 2CTA in biological systems.