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pH-Sensitive blue and red N-CDs for L-asparaginase quantification in complex biological matrices

Research Authors
Ahmed Z Alanazi, Khalid Alhazzani, Hossieny Ibrahim, Aya M Mostafa, James Barker, Ashraf M Mahmoud, Mohamed M El-Wekil, Al-Montaser Bellah H Ali
Research Date
Research Journal
Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy
Research Year
2025
Research Abstract

A novel fluorometric method for the determination of L-asparaginase, an enzyme crucial in cancer therapy and food industry applications, is presented. This sensitive and selective approach utilizes L-asparagine and two pH-sensitive carbon dots (blue-N-CDs and red-N-CDs) as probes. The interaction between L-asparagine and L-asparaginase liberates ammonia, causing an increase in pH. This pH change simultaneously decreases the fluorescence of blue-N-CDs while enhancing the emission of red-N-CDs, enabling ratiometric detection of L-asparaginase. Comprehensive characterization of both carbon dots and investigation of their response mechanism towards L-asparaginase were conducted using ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry, fluorescence spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging techniques. The designed approach demonstrates outstanding linearity (20 to 2000 U L-1 …