Using photoluminescent gold nanodots to detect hemoglobin in diluted blood samples

In this study we used photoluminescent 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid-bound gold nanodots (11-MUA-Au NDs) to detect hemoglobin through photoluminescence (PL) quenching. The mechanism of quenching, which occurred through redox reactions between the 11-MUA-Au NDs and the Fe(II) atoms of hemin units, was supported by an increase in the signals (G 2.0 and 5.9) of high-spin state Fe(III) ions. The Stern-Volmer quenching constants (Ksv) for hemin, cytochrome c, hemoglobin, and myoglobin were 5.6×10(7), 1.7×10(7), 1.6×10(7), and 6.2×10(6)M(-1), respectively, in good agreement with the order of their reduction potentials. When excited at 375nm, the PL intensity of the 11-MUA-Au NDs at 520nm decreased upon increasing the concentration of hemoglobin from 1.0 to 10nM (R(2)=0.9913). This approach using bovine serum albumin blocked 11-MUA-Au NDs provided a limit of detection for hemoglobin (at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3) of 0.5nM in biological buffer, with great selectivity over other non-heme-containing proteins, including human serum albumin, β-casein, and carbonic anhydrase. We validated the practicality of this approach through the determination of the concentrations (1.85-2.46mM) of hemoglobin in diluted (10(6)-fold) human blood samples based on PL quenching of Au NDs. This simple, sensitive, and selective approach holds great potential for the diagnosis of several diseases, including anemia, erythrocytosis, and thalassemias.