Ovalbumin-stabilized gold nanoclusters with ascorbic acid as reducing agent for detection of serum copper

Ovalbumin-stabilized gold nanoclusters (OVA@AuNCs) were prepared with-ascorbic acid as a reducing agent. This strategy could realize the synthesis of water-soluble OVA@AuNCs within 20 min. The as prepared fluorescent probe showed a red fluorescence emission at 630 nm. Moreover, the properties of the OVA@AuNCs were characterized by transmission electron microscope, dynamic light scattering, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, fluorescent spectroscopy. Based on the surface electron density decrease-induced fluorescence quenching mechanism, the OVA@AuNCs provided high sensitivity and selectivity for sensing copper ions. A good linear relationship was obtained between the fluorescence intensity of OVA@AuNCs and the concentration of copper ions in the range of 5.0-100.0 mu mol/L (R-2=0.999) with a detection limit of 640 nmol/L. Furthermore, the rat serum copper contents were determined by using the OVA@AuNCs based assay, indicating great potential of fluorescent probes for application in biological and clinical analysis. (C) 2017 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.