A novel ‘turn-on’ fluorescence probe with aggregation-induced emission for the selective detection and bioimaging of Hg2+ in live cells

A novel ‘turn on’ fluorescent probe with aggregation-induced emission was designed, prepared, characterized and applied to fluorescence imaging of Hg 2+ in live HeLa cells. Unique recognition mechanism of the probe toward Hg 2+ has been determined by UV/vis, fluorescence spectra, SEM, mass spectra and 1 H NMR studies, respectively. The probe displayed higher properties such as, stability to pH, fast-response time with Hg 2+ , a lower detection limit, stronger antijamming capability and better imaging in live cells compared with other probes. More importantly, to further exhibited the practicability of the probe in biological system, the probe was applied to detect Hg 2+ in live HeLa cells. The fluorescence images for detection of intracellular Hg 2+ at different concentrations have been performed. The superior properties of the probe make it of great potential use in vitro or in vivo sensing some species of biologically studies.