Color-Coded Single-Particle Pyrophosphate Assay with Dark-Field Optical Microscopy

摘要

In this work, we demonstrate a convenient yet sensitive color-coded single-particle detection method for the quantification of pyrophosphate (PPi) by using single gold nanoparticle (GNP) as the probe. The design is based on GNP-dependent catalytic deposition of Cu onto the surface of GNPs with reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). Without PPi, Cu~(2+) can be directly reduced to Cu~(0) through the gold-catalyzed oxidization of NADH. In the presence of PPi, the coating process is impeded due to the strong coordination capability of PPi with Cu~(2+). The selective coating of Cu shell onto the GNPs surface results in the extraordinary red-shift of localized surface plasmon resonance from individual GNPs. By quantitatively counting the fraction of yellow particles with color-coded dark-field optical microscopy, the trace amounts of PPi in solution can be accurately quantified. The limit-of-detection is as low as 1.49 nM with a linear dynamic range of 0–4.29 μM, which is much lower than the spectroscopic measurements in bulk solution. In artificial urine sample, good recovery efficiency was achieved. As a consequence, the method demonstrated herein will find promising applications for the ultrasensitive detection of target biomolecules under biological milieu in the future.