Design of Turn On fluorometric nanoprobe based on nitrogen doped graphene quantum dots modified with β-cyclodextrin and vitamin B6 cofactor for selective sensing of dopamine in human serum

Herein, a novel and rapid fluorometric nanoprobe was constructed for quantitation of dopamine (DA) in presence of biologically interfering compounds. The nanoprobe based on synthesis of yellow emissive nitrogen doped graphene quantum dots (N@GQDs) by advanced thermal driven oxidation. After that, the synthesized N@GQDs was capped with beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD), followed by interaction with pyridoxal (PYL) vitamin B-6 cofactor. This interaction resulted in diminishing the yellow fluorescence of beta-CD/ N@GQDs, and appearance of blue emission peak at 420 nm. Upon addition of DA, the blue emission of beta-CD/N@GQDs was increased after excitation at lambda = 330 nm. Under optimum conditions, the nanoprobe exhibited a linear range of 0.36-400 nM with limit of detection (LOD) of 0.117 nM. In addition, the fluorescent nanoprobe shows high selectivity and can be used for detection of DA in complicated biological matrices and human serum. This strategy might provide a potential tool for clinical diagnosis and biomedical research for DA related diseases. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A novel and rapid fluorometric nanoprobe was developed for the quantitation of dopamine in the presence of biologically interfering compounds. The nanoprobe demonstrated high selectivity and potential for clinical diagnosis and biomedical research on dopamine-related diseases.