Protein-Templated Fluorescent Metal Nanoclusters as Photonic Pressure Sensors for Neuronal Cells

Protein-templated metal nanoclusters offer a multifunctional biocompatible platform for a wide range of applications, ranging from biomedical imaging to chem-bio detection and quantification. Here, we show that the reverse-micelle (MC) confined BSA-templated Au nanoclusters (BSA-AuNC) exhibit a linear relationship on the internal pressure. We also demonstrate successful in situ synthesis of fluorescence AuNCs in healthy Human microglial cells (HMic). These experiments suggest that with appropriate engineering, fluorescent metal nanoclusters (fMNCs) can be used as a non-invasive, photonic sensor at cellular level.