In this paper, localized electrochemiluminescence (ECL) was visualized from nanoneedle electrodes that achieved very-high-density electrochemical sensing. The localized luminescence at the nanometer-sized tip observed was ascribed to enhanced mass transfer of the luminescence probe at the tip than on the planar surface surrounding the tip, which provided higher luminescence at the tip. The size of the luminescence spots was restricted to 15 μm permitting the electrochemical analysis with a density over 4 × 103 spots/mm2. The positive correlation between the luminescence intensity at the tips and the concentration of hydrogen peroxide supported the quantitative ECL analysis using nanoneedle electrodes. The further modification of glucose oxidase at the electrode surface conceptually demonstrated that the concentration of glucose ranging from 0.5 to 5 mM could be quantified using the luminescence at the tips, which could be further applied for the detection of multiple molecules in the complex biosystem. This successful localized ECL offers a specific strategy for the development of very-high-density electrochemical arrays without the complicated chip design.

Different from the most extensively used inorganic quantum dots (Qdots) for the current state-of-the-art photoelectrochemical (PEC) bioanalysis, this work reports the first demonstration of polymer dots (Pdots) for novel PEC bioanalysis. The semiconducting Pdots were prepared via the reprecipitation method and then immobilized onto the transparent indium tin oxide glass electrode for PEC biodetection of the model molecule l-cysteine. The experimental results revealed that the as-fabricated Pdots exhibited excellent and interesting PEC activity and good analytical performance of rapid response, high stability, wide linear range, and excellent selectivity. In particular, the PEC sensor could easily discriminate l-cysteine from reduced l-glutathione (l-GSH). This work manifested the great promise of Pdots in the field of PEC bioanalysis, and it is believed that our work could inspire the development of numerous functional Pdots with unique properties for innovative PEC bioanalytical purposes in the future.

Here, a g-C3N4 nanosheet modified microwell array providing enhanced electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and better visible sensitivity was prepared to simultaneously analyze total (membrane and intracellular) cholesterol at single cells. The detection limit for ECL visualization of hydrogen peroxide at microwell array was improved to be 500 nM that guaranteed the detection of low concentration cholesterol at single cells in parallel. To achieve single cell cholesterol analysis, the individual cells cultured at the microwell array were exposed to cholesterol oxidase generating hydrogen peroxide for luminescence analysis of membrane cholesterol, and then treated with triton X-100, cholesterol esterase, and cholesterol oxidase to produce hydrogen peroxide from intracellular cholesterol for luminescence determination. The observation of the luminescence spots at microwells in these two steps confirmed the codetection of membrane and intracellular cholesterol at single cells. The inhibition of intracellular acyl-coA/cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) resulted in less intracellular cholesterol storage (less luminescence) and more membrane cholesterol (more luminescence). The correlation of the luminescence intensity with the amount of cholesterol confirmed that our assay could simultaneously monitor membrane and intracellular cholesterol pools at different cellular states, which should offer more information for the study of cholesterol-related pathways at single cells.

The analysis of single cells instead of cell populations is important for characterizing cellular heterogeneity and elucidating the cellular signalling pathways. Nanoelectrodes have emerged as an increasingly important tool for biomolecule analyses at the single-cell level with high spatial or temporal resolution. Various electrochemical methods, such as amperometry and scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM), have been applied. Research to date has focused on the development of new nanoelectrochemical architectures, such as arrays, to achieve higher spatial resolution and faster analysis rates for single-cell analysis. In this review, the fabrication of these new nanoelectrochemical architectures and their applications in high spatial resolution single-cell analyses are discussed. The recent progress of Chinese researchers is highlighted.

In this work, a self-electrochemiluminous graphene oxide-capped Au@L012 nanocomposite was prepared as the label at carcinoembryonic (CEA) antibody to detect attomole CEA antigen. To maximize the luminescence intensity, L012 molecules (luminol analogue) were linked with poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) to form positive charged PDDA&L012 pairs, which were modified on negative charged Au@nafion nanoparticles to construct a Au@nafion@PDDA&L012 (Au@L012) complex. Graphene oxide with carboxyl groups was capped at Au@L012 complex through electrostatic interaction to serve as an effective matrix for the covalent attachment of CEA antibody. As compared with the traditional used Au nanoparticles modified with luminol, ∼740-fold increase of self-luminescence was observed from this new complex so that CEA antigen as low as 0.5 amol at electrode surface was measurable in the absence of any coreactant. Moreover, the nanocomposite was attached with CEA antigen at MCF-7 cells allowing the detection of CEA antigen from 72 cells. The success in the detection of surface antigen at small population of cells suggested the self-electrochemiluminescence nanocomposite as the new and biosafe label for the ECL immunoassay, which might push the application of ECL for the cellular immunoanalysis.

Continuous fluorescence imaging of intracellular ions in various spectral ranges is important for biological studies. In this paper, fluorescent calcium-selective nanospheres, including calix[4]arene-functionalized bodipy (CBDP) or 9-(diethylamino)-5-[(2-octyldecyl)imino]benzo[a]phenoxazine (ETH 5350) as the chromoionophore, were prepared to demonstrate intracellular calcium imaging in visible or near-IR regions, respectively. The fluorescence of the nanospheres was controlled by the chromoionophore, and thus the spectral range for detection was adjustable by choosing the proper chromoionophore. The response time of the nanospheres to calcium was typically 1 s, which allowed accurate measurement of intracellular calcium. These nanospheres were loaded into cells through free endocytosis and exhibited fluorescence for 24 h, and their intensity was correlated with the elevation of intracellular calcium upon stimulation. The successful demonstration of calcium imaging by use of ion-selective nanospheres within two spectral ranges in 24 h supported that these nanospheres could be applied for continuous imaging of intracellular ions with adjustable spectra.Keywords: adjustable spectrum; chromoionophore; continuous imaging; fluorescent calcium-selective nanospheres; intracellular calcium

In this Letter, the electrochemical visualization of hydrogen peroxide inside one cell was achieved first using a comprehensive Au-luminol-microelectrode and electrochemiluminescence. The capillary with a tip opening of 1–2 μm was filled with the mixture of chitosan and luminol, which was coated with the thin layers of polyvinyl chloride/nitrophenyloctyl ether (PVC/NPOE) and gold as the microelectrode. Upon contact with the aqueous hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen peroxide and luminol in contact with the gold layer were oxidized under the positive potential resulting in luminescence for the imaging. Due to the small diameter of the electrode, the microelectrode tip was inserted into one cell and the bright luminescence observed at the tip confirmed the visualization of intracellular hydrogen peroxide. The further coupling of oxidase on the electrode surface could open the field in the electrochemical imaging of intracellular biomolecules at single cells, which benefited the single cell electrochemical detection.

Here, luminol electrochemiluminescence was first applied to analyze intracellular molecules, such as glucose, at single cells. The individual cells were retained in cell-sized microwells on a gold coated indium tin oxide (ITO) slide, which were treated with luminol, triton X-100, and glucose oxidase simultaneously. The broken cellular membrane in the presence of triton X-100 released intracellular glucose into the microwell and reacted with glucose oxidase to generate hydrogen peroxide, which induced luminol luminescence under positive potential. To achieve fast analysis, the luminescences from 64 individual cells on one ITO slide were imaged in 60 s using a charge-coupled device (CCD). More luminescence was observed at all the microwells after the introduction of triton X-100 and glucose oxidase suggested that intracellular glucose was detected at single cells. The starvation of cells to decrease intracellular glucose produced less luminescence, which confirmed that our luminescence intensity was correlated with the concentration of intracellular glucose. Large deviations in glucose concentration at observed single cells revealed high cellular heterogeneity in intracellular glucose for the first time. This developed electrochemiluminescence assay will be potentially applied for fast analysis of more intracellular molecules in single cells to elucidate cellular heterogeneity.

A boronic acid functionalized aza-borondipyrromethene dye (azaBDPBA) was applied to the dual-wavelength detection of hydrogen peroxide with high selectivity, which was loaded into cells to indicate the alteration of intracellular hydrogen peroxide during biological processes.

The development of more intricate devices for the analysis of small molecules and protein activity in single cells would advance our knowledge of cellular heterogeneity and signaling cascades. Therefore, in this study, a nanokit was produced by filling a nanometer-sized capillary with a ring electrode at the tip with components from traditional kits, which could be egressed outside the capillary by electrochemical pumping. At the tip, femtoliter amounts of the kit components were reacted with the analyte to generate hydrogen peroxide for the electrochemical measurement by the ring electrode. Taking advantage of the nanotip and small volume injection, the nanokit was easily inserted into a single cell to determine the intracellular glucose levels and sphingomyelinase (SMase) activity, which had rarely been achieved. High cellular heterogeneities of these two molecules were observed, showing the significance of the nanokit. Compared with the current methods that use a complicated structural design or surface functionalization for the recognition of the analytes, the nanokit has adapted features of the well-established kits and integrated the kit components and detector in one nanometer-sized capillary, which provides a specific device to characterize the reactivity and concentrations of cellular compounds in single cells.

Piperidine functionalized boron–dipyrromethene (BODIPY) derivative was developed as the first phenylamino BODIPY type of pH indicators exhibiting fluorescence enhancement in the process of the deprotonation. The piperidine units on BODIPY core not only provided the excitation and emission at visible wavelength, but also changed the energy level of excited fluorophore inducing an oxidative PET process upon deprotonation. The probe was further applied to prepare fluorescence turn-on cation selective optodes based on ion-exchange sensing mechanism, which revealed fluorescence enhancement in the presence of target metal ion. For the model ion, Pb2+, the proposed sensor exhibited the linear response to Pb2+ in the range of 10−5–10−1 M with the detection limit of 10−6 M. The excellent sensitivity and selectivity of Pb2+ optode suggested that the new fluorescent chromoionophore was compatible and fully functional in ionophore-based polymeric optode.

A near-infrared fluorescent dye (aza-bodipy or azaBDPBA) functionalized with boronic acid groups was synthesized for the preparation of optodes to measure glucose in 40-fold diluted whole blood. Boronic acid groups as an electron deficient group on aza-bodipy was reacted with hydrogen peroxide into an electron-rich phenolic group leading to the red-shift of emission wavelength from 682 to 724 nm. The emission in near-infrared region offered a low level of background interference from whole blood. Also, the dual-wavelength emission guaranteed our probe to measure glucose in whole blood accurately after the conversion of glucose into hydrogen peroxide using glucose oxidase. The measuring range of glucose from 0.2 to 200 mM in the buffer was achieved with high selectivity. To facilitate the blood test, the probe was immobilized into thin hydrophobic polymer films to prepare the disposal glucose optode, which could detect glucose in the solution from 60 μM to 100 mM. The concentration of glucose in 40-fold diluted whole blood was determined using our optode and the reference method, respectively. The consistence in the concentration obtained from these two assays revealed that our azaBDPBA-based optodes were promising for the clinic assay of glucose in the whole blood.Keywords: aza-bodipy; dual-wavelength emission; fluorescence optode; glucose; near-infrared; whole blood;

Luminol electrochemiluminescence (ECL) imaging was developed for the parallel measurement of active membrane cholesterol at single living cells, thus establishing a novel electrochemical detection technique for single cells with high analysis throughput and low detection limit. In our strategy, the luminescence generated from luminol and hydrogen peroxide upon the potential was recorded in one image so that hydrogen peroxide at the surface of multiple cells could be simultaneously analyzed. Compared with the classic microelectrode array for the parallel single-cell analysis, the plat electrode only was needed in our ECL imaging, avoiding the complexity of electrode fabrication. The optimized ECL imaging system showed that hydrogen peroxide as low as 10 μM was visible and the efflux of hydrogen peroxide from cells could be determined. Coupled with the reaction between active membrane cholesterol and cholesterol oxidase to generate hydrogen peroxide, active membrane cholesterol at cells on the electrode was analyzed at single-cell level. The luminescence intensity was correlated with the amount of active membrane cholesterol, validating our system for single-cell cholesterol analysis. The relative high standard deviation on the luminescence suggested high cellular heterogeneities on hydrogen peroxide efflux and active membrane cholesterol, which exhibited the significance of single-cell analysis. This success in ECL imaging for single-cell analysis opens a new field in the parallel measurement of surface molecules at single cells.

A class of squaramide-based tripodal molecules was employed as new ionophores for highly sensitive and selective sulfate-selective sensors. Compared with the reported tripodal ionophore with urea, squaramide groups as superior hydrogen bonding donor were introduced into the tripodal structure to obtain new ionophores leading to better electrode performance. Three derivatives with unsubstituted (I), p-carbon trifluoride (II), and p-nitro (III) phenyl groups were attached to squaramide groups for the optimization of ionophore based sensors. Electron withdrawing p-nitrophenyl groups gave a greater enhancement of the hydrogen bond donor ability of squaramide so that Ionophore III was chosen as the best candidate for sulfate ion recognition. Such a membrane with 30 mol% TDMACl exhibited a Nernstian slope of −30.2 mV per decade to sulfate ions with a linear range from 1 μM to 100 mM in potentiometric measurement. The selectivity coefficients of the proposed sensor over H2PO4−, Cl−, Br−, NO3−, SCN−, I− and ClO4− were −4.3, −3.4, −2.5, −0.6, +3.1, +3.4 and +5.9, respectively, which were much better than the existing sulfate-selective sensors. The new sensors with high selectivity were successfully applied for the quantification of sulfate in cell lysates and drinking water with good recoveries.

Previously, our group has utilized the luminol electrochemiluminescence to analyze the active cholesterol at the plasma membrane in single cells by the exposure of one cell to a photomultiplier tube (PMT) through a pinhole. In this paper, fast analysis of active cholesterol at the plasma membrane in single cells was achieved by a multimicroelectrode array without the pinhole. Single cells were directly located on the microelectrodes using cell-sized microwell traps. A cycle of voltage was applied on the microelectrodes sequentially to induce a peak of luminescence from each microelectrode for the serial measurement of active membrane cholesterol. A minimal time of 1.60 s was determined for the analysis of one cell. The simulation and the experimental data exhibited a semisteady-state distribution of hydrogen peroxide on the microelectrode after the reaction of cholesterol oxidase with the membrane cholesterol, which supported the relative accuracy of the serial analysis. An eight-microelectrode array was demonstrated to analyze eight single cells in 22 s serially, including the channel switching time. The results from 64 single cells either activated by low ion strength buffer or the inhibition of intracellular acyl-coA/cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) revealed that most of the cells analyzed had the similar active membrane cholesterol, while few cells had more active cholesterol resulting in the cellular heterogeneity. The fast single-cell analysis platform developed will be potentially useful for the analysis of more molecules in single cells using proper oxidases.

The potential-resolved electrochemiluminescence (ECL) was achieved for the determination of two antigens at the cell surface through a potential scanning on the electrode. Luminol and Ru(bpy)32+ groups as ECL probes were linked with the antibodies to recognize the corresponding antigens on the cell surface. A self-quenching of luminescence from the luminol group under negative potential was initialized by the introduction of concentrated aqueous luminol, which offered accurate measurements of the luminescence from luminol and Ru(bpy)32+ groups under positive and negative potentials, respectively. Using this strategy, carcinoembryonic (CEA) and alphafetoprotein (AFP) antigens on cells as the models were quantified serially through a potential scanning. Different patterns of luminescence were observed at MCF 7 and PC 3 cells, which exhibited that the assay can characterize the cells with a difference expression of antigens. Compared with fluorescence measurement, the potential resolved ECL for the detection of two analytes was not limited by the spectrum difference of probes. The strategy involving potential-induced signals required a simplified optical setup and eventually offered an alternative imaging method for multiply antigens in immunohistochemistry.

A microelectrode array has been applied for single cell analysis with relatively high throughput; however, the cells were typically cultured on the microelectrodes under cell-size microwell traps leading to the difficulty in the functionalization of an electrode surface for higher detection sensitivity. Here, nanoring electrodes embedded under the microwell traps were fabricated to achieve the isolation of the electrode surface and the cell support, and thus, the electrode surface can be modified to obtain enhanced electrochemical sensitivity for single cell analysis. Moreover, the nanometer-sized electrode permitted a faster diffusion of analyte to the surface for additional improvement in the sensitivity, which was evidenced by the electrochemical characterization and the simulation. To demonstrate the concept of the functionalized nanoring electrode for single cell analysis, the electrode surface was deposited with prussian blue to detect intracellular hydrogen peroxide at a single cell. Hundreds of picoamperes were observed on our functionalized nanoring electrode exhibiting the enhanced electrochemical sensitivity. The success in the achievement of a functionalized nanoring electrode will benefit the development of high throughput single cell electrochemical analysis.

A luminol electrochemiluminescence assay was reported to analyze active cholesterol at the plasma membrane in single mammalian cells. The cellular membrane cholesterol was activated by the exposure of the cells to low ionic strength buffer or the inhibition of intracellular acyl-coA/cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT). The active membrane cholesterol was reacted with cholesterol oxidase in the solution to generate a peak concentration of hydrogen peroxide on the electrode surface, which induced a measurable luminol electrochemiluminescence. Further treatment of the active cells with mevastatin decreased the active membrane cholesterol resulting in a drop in luminance. No change in the intracellular calcium was observed in the presence of luminol and voltage, which indicated that our analysis process might not interrupt the intracellular cholesterol trafficking. Single cell analysis was performed by placing a pinhole below the electrode so that only one cell was exposed to the photomultiplier tube (PMT). Twelve single cells were analyzed individually, and a large deviation on luminance ratio observed exhibited the cell heterogeneity on the active membrane cholesterol. The smaller deviation on ACAT/HMGCoA inhibited cells than ACAT inhibited cells suggested different inhibition efficiency for sandoz 58035 and mevastatin. The new information obtained from single cell analysis might provide a new insight on the study of intracellular cholesterol trafficking.

In this study, BODIPY-appended calix[4]arene was chosen as a fluorescent probe for intracellular pH. The compound with cell permeability can monitor the minor pH change near neutrality inside the cell and is the first BODIPY-derived probe reported for cytosolic pH. Owing to a high level of cell retention and minor cytotoxicity of the probe, stable fluorescence is provided in the cells for 24 h, facilitating the precise observation of intracellular pH. A model of cell apoptosis was designed by exposure of the cells to a low concentration of hydrogen peroxide. An increase in the fluorescence of the cells confirmed that BODIPY-appended calix[4]arene sensed the fluctuation of the cellular pH during early cell apoptosis. The developed fluorescent pH probe will be useful for the study of cell apoptosis.