Monitoring of Endogenous Hydrogen Sulfide in Living Cells Using Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering

Abstract Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) has emerged as an important gasotransmitter in diverse physiological processes, although many aspects of its roles remain unclear, partly owing to a lack of robust analytical methods. Herein we report a novel surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanosensor, 4‐acetamidobenzenesulfonyl azide‐functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs/4‐AA), for detecting the endogenous H 2 S in living cells. The detection is accomplished with SERS spectrum changes of AuNPs/4‐AA resulting from the reaction of H 2 S with 4‐AA on AuNPs. The SERS nanosensor exhibits high selectivity toward H 2 S. Furthermore, AuNPs/4‐AA responds to H 2 S within 1 min with a 0.1 μ M level of sensitivity. In particular, our SERS method can be utilized to monitor the endogenous H 2 S generated in living glioma cells, demonstrating its great promise in studies of pathophysiological pathways involving H 2 S.