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Fluorogenic Ag + –Tetrazolate Aggregation Enables Efficient Fluorescent Biological Silver Staining
Author(s) -
Xie Sheng,
Wong Alex Y. H.,
Kwok Ryan T. K.,
Li Ying,
Su Huifang,
Lam Jacky W. Y.,
Chen Sijie,
Tang Ben Zhong
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201801653
Subject(s) - chromogenic , staining , fluorescence , silver stain , silver nitrate , chemistry , stain , silver nanoparticle , biophysics , negative stain , chromatography , nanotechnology , nuclear chemistry , materials science , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , nanoparticle , optics , genetics , physics , electron microscope
Abstract Silver staining, which exploits the special bioaffinity and the chromogenic reduction of silver ions, is an indispensable visualization method in biology. It is a most popular method for in‐gel protein detection. However, it is limited by run‐to‐run variability, background staining, inability for protein quantification, and limited compatibility with mass spectroscopic (MS) analysis; limitations that are largely attributed to the tricky chromogenic visualization. Herein, we reported a novel water‐soluble fluorogenic Ag + probe, the sensing mechanism of which is based on an aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) process driven by tetrazolate‐Ag + interactions. The fluorogenic sensing can substitute the chromogenic reaction, leading to a new fluorescence silver staining method. This new staining method offers sensitive detection of total proteins in polyacrylamide gels with a broad linear dynamic range and robust operations that rival the silver nitrate stain and the best fluorescent stains.