A polyelectrolyte based supramolecular assembly for ratiometric sensing of ATP with very high discrimination from pyrophosphate

• Published in: Journal of molecular liquids 2021-04, Vol.328, p.115314, Article 115314
• Main Authors: Singh, Vidya R., Pandey, Shrishti P., Singh, Prabhat K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 1,3,6,8-pyrenetetrasulfonic acid (PTS); ATP; Fluorescence based sensor; Poly(allylaminehydrochloride) (PAH); Ratiometric sensor
• ISSN: 0167-7322; 1873-3166
• DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2021.115314

Single-wavelength based fluorescence sensing scheme of ATP have been amply reported in literature whereas, only limited reports exist, where a ratiometric detection scheme for ATP is developed that attain high discrimination against a closely related competitive analyte pyrophosphate (PPi), and constructed from all commercially available molecules. In this work, we report a dye-polyelectrolyte supramolecular assembly which works as an efficient sensor platform for selective and sensitive detection of ATP, and provides a ratiometric output for ATP with LOD of 0.1 μM. The dye-polyelectrolyte supramolecular assembly consists of the monomer-aggregate equilibrium of a tetranionic dye, 1,3,6,8-pyrenetetrasulfonic acid (PTS) on the surface of a positively charged polyelectrolyte, poly(allylaminehydrochloride), PAH. This monomer-aggregate equilibrium is significantly modulated by ATP yielding an advantageous fluorescence ratiometric response. Importantly, the present dye-polyelectrolyte assembly shows very high selectivity for ATP over pyrophosphate which is seldom reported in the literature. More importantly, the sensor platform also displays good response in human serum matrix, indicating its applicability in real-life scenarios. The sensor scheme involves all commercially available components which provide freedom from heavy dependence on synthetic molecules that involves laborious and time-consuming synthetic steps which are expected to significantly impact the prospect of this new sensor scheme in real-life applications. [Display omitted] •A dye-polyelectrolyte assembly yields a fluorescence ratiometric response for ATP.•The sensor displays a LOD of ~100 nM.•A highly selective sensor system for ATP with high discrimination over pyrophosphate.•The sensor system has also been characterized by NMR, FTIR and AFM measurements.•The sensor system also shows response towards ATP in human serum samples.