A dual-reactivity-based surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy nanosensor for the simultaneous imaging of hypochlorite and nitric oxide in living cells.

A surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) nanosensor with dual-reactivity is developed for the simultaneous imaging of hypochlorite (ClO) and nitric oxide (NO) in living cells. Utilizing the specific reactions between functional molecules and ClO and NO, respectively, the 2-mercapto-4-methoxy-phenol (2-MP) and o-phenylenediamine (OPD) molecules are synchronously assembled on the surface of gold nanoparticles to fabricate the dual-function nanosensors. The advantages of SERS technology, narrow peaks for spectral multiplexing and fingerprint information, further facilitate the simultaneous detection of ClO and NO. The prepared nanosensors achieve a highly sensitive and selective measurement of ClO and NO with a limit of detection of 0.054 μM and 0.46 μM, respectively. Furthermore, the SERS nanosensors enable the simultaneous visualization of ClO and NO in the single living cell, which opens up the prospects to investigate the ClO- and NO-involved physiological and pathological events.