Introducing Ratiometric Fluorescence to MnO 2 Nanosheet-Based Biosensing: A Simple, Label-Free Ratiometric Fluorescent Sensor Programmed by Cascade Logic Circuit for Ultrasensitive GSH Detection

Glutathione (GSH) plays crucial roles in various biological functions, the level alterations of which have been linked to varieties of diseases. Herein, we for the first time expanded the application of oxidase-like property of MnO nanosheet (MnO NS) to fluorescent substrates of peroxidase. Different from previously reported fluorescent quenching phenomena, we found that MnO NS could not only largely quench the fluorescence of highly fluorescent Scopoletin (SC) but also surprisingly enhance that of nonfluorescent Amplex Red (AR) via oxidation reaction. If MnO NS is premixed with GSH, it will be reduced to Mn and lose the oxidase-like property, accompanied by subsequent increase in SC's fluorescence and decrease in AR's. On the basis of the above mechanism, we construct the first MnO NS-based ratiometric fluorescent sensor for ultrasensitive and selective detection of GSH. Notably, this ratiometric sensor is programmed by the cascade logic circuit (an INHIBIT gate cascade with a 1 to 2 decoder). And a linear relationship between ratiometric fluorescent intensities of the two substrates and logarithmic values of GSH's concentrations is obtained. The detection limit of GSH is as low as 6.7 nM, which is much lower than previous ratiometric fluorescent sensors, and the lowest MnO NS-based fluorescent GSH sensor reported so far. Furthermore, this sensor is simple, label-free, and low-cost; it also presents excellent applicability in human serum samples.