A Turn-On Fluorescent Sensor for Glutathione Based on Bovine Serum Albumin-Stabilized Gold Nanoclusters

A fluorescence sensor for the detection of glutathione based on the fluorescence recovering of the bovine serum albumin-stabilized gold nanoclusters is reported. This study indicates that glutathione restores the copper-ion-quenched fluorescence by coordinating the bound copper ion in the bovine serum albumin molecule used for stabilizing the gold nanocluster through its sulfydryl. Under the experimental conditions, the fluorescence response showed a linear relationship with the concentration of glutathione over the range from 10 µM to 400 µM. The fluorescence sensor successfully detected glutathione in commercial drug products.