Multimode Sensing Platform Based on Turn-On Fluorescent Silicon Nanoparticles for Monitoring of Intracellular pH and GSH

Various physiological activities and metabolic reactions of cells need to be carried out under the corresponding pH environment. Intracellular GSH as an acid tripeptide and an important reducing substance also plays an important role in maintaining cellular acid–base balance and redox balance. Therefore, developing a method to monitor pH and GSH and their changes in cells is necessary. Herein, we developed a novel turn-on fluorescent silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) using N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane as the silicon source and dithiothreitol as the reducing agent via a one-pot hydrothermal method. It was worth mentioning that the fluorescence intensity of the SiNPs increased along with the acidity increase, making the SiNPs have excellent pH and GSH sensing capability. Furthermore, the pH and GSH sensing performance of the SiNPs in the cell was verified by confocal imaging and flow cytometry experiment. Based on the above, the prepared SiNPs had the potential to be used as an intracellular pH and GSH multimode fluorescent sensing platform and exhibited the ability to distinguish between normal cells and cancer cells.