An etching based fluorescent probe for sensitive detection of hydrogen sulfide in cells.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is one of the most crucial gas signaling agents that mediate many physiological and pathological processes. However, rapid high-efficiency detection and imaging of H2S in living cells is very challenging. Herein we reported a simple fluorescent nanoprobe using FAM-DNA/AgNP nanocomposites for fast and sensitive H2S detection based on surface silver displacement. In contrast to the conventional principles for fluorescence turn-on analyte detection, the present work demonstrated a sensitive and selective AgNP based optosensor for the assay of H2S. Compared with the majority of the reported H2S probes, complex synthesis procedures and costly equipment are not involved in this assay.