β-Glucuronidase (GUS) is considered as a promising biomarker for primary cancer. Thus, the reliable detection of GUS has great practical significance in the discovery and diagnosis of cancer. Compared with traditional organic probes, silicon nanoparticles (Si NPs) have emerged as robust optical nanomaterials due to their facile preparation, superior photobleaching resistance and excellent biocompatibility. However, most nanomaterials-based methods only output a single signal which is easily influenced by external factors in complex systems. Hence, developing nanomaterial-based multi-signal optical assays for highly sensitive GUS determination is still urgently desired. In this study, we developed a simple and efficient one-step method for the in situ preparation of yellow color and yellow-green fluorescent Si NPs. This was achieved by combining 3-[2-(2-aminoethylamino) ethylamino] propyl-trimethoxysilane with -aminophenol (AP) in an aqueous solution. The obtained Si NPs showed yellow-green fluorescence at 535 nm when excited at 380 nm, while also exhibiting an absorption peak at a wavelength of 490 nm. Taking inspiration from the easy synthesis step regulated by AP, which is generated through the hydrolysis of 4-aminophenyl β-D-glucuronide catalyzed by GUS, we constructed a direct fluorometric and colorimetric dual-mode method to measure GUS activity. The developed fluorometric and colorimetric sensing platform showed high sensitivity and accuracy with detection limits for GUS determination as low as 0.0093 and 0.081 U/L, respectively. This study provides a facile dual-mode fluorometric and colorimetric approach for determination of GUS activity based on novel Si NPs for the first time. This designed sensing approach was successfully employed for the quantification of GUS in human serum samples and screening of GUS inhibitors, indicating the feasibility and potential applications in clinical cancer diagnosis and anti-cancer drug discovery.

中文翻译：

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基于硅纳米颗粒原位形成的β-葡萄糖醛酸酶触发荧光和比色双模式测定反应

β-葡萄糖醛酸酶（GUS）被认为是一种有前途的原发性癌症生物标志物。因此，GUS的可靠检测对于癌症的发现和诊断具有重要的实际意义。与传统的有机探针相比，硅纳米粒子（Si NPs）由于其易于制备、优异的抗光漂白性和优异的生物相容性而成为坚固的光学纳米材料。然而，大多数基于纳米材料的方法仅输出单个信号，很容易受到复杂系统中外部因素的影响。因此，仍然迫切需要开发基于纳米材料的多信号光学检测方法来进行高灵敏度的 GUS 测定。在这项研究中，我们开发了一种简单有效的一步法原位制备黄色和黄绿色荧光硅纳米粒子。这是通过将 3-[2-(2-氨基乙基氨基)乙基氨基]丙基三甲氧基硅烷与氨基苯酚 (AP) 在水溶液中混合来实现的。所获得的Si NPs在380 nm激发时在535 nm处显示黄绿色荧光，同时在490 nm波长处也显示出吸收峰。受 AP 调节的简单合成步骤（通过 GUS 催化 4-氨基苯基 β-D-葡萄糖醛酸苷水解生成）的启发，我们构建了直接荧光和比色双模式方法来测量 GUS 活性。开发的荧光和比色传感平台具有高灵敏度和准确性，GUS 测定的检测限分别低至 0.0093 和 0.081 U/L。本研究首次提供了一种简便的双模式荧光和比色方法，用于测定基于新型 Si NP 的 GUS 活性。这种设计的传感方法已成功用于人血清样本中GUS的定量和GUS抑制剂的筛选，表明在临床癌症诊断和抗癌药物发现中的可行性和潜在应用。