Monitoring of endogenous hydrogen sulfide in living cells using surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) has emerged as an important gasotransmitter in diverse physiological processes, although many aspects of its roles remain unclear, partly owing to a lack of robust analytical methods. Herein we report a novel surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanosensor, 4-acetamidobenzenesulfonyl azide-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs/4-AA), for detecting the endogenous H₂S in living cells. The detection is accomplished with SERS spectrum changes of AuNPs/4-AA resulting from the reaction of H₂S with 4-AA on AuNPs. The SERS nanosensor exhibits high selectivity toward H₂S. Furthermore, AuNPs/4-AA responds to H₂S within 1 min with a 0.1 μM level of sensitivity. In particular, our SERS method can be utilized to monitor the endogenous H₂S generated in living glioma cells, demonstrating its great promise in studies of pathophysiological pathways involving H₂S. Rapid, selective, and sensitive: The endogenous H₂S in living cells can be detected rapidly, selectively, and sensitively using a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanosensor, 4-acetamidobenzenesulfonyl azide-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs/4-AA). Based on the rapid and specific reaction between H₂S and 4-AA, combined with the sensitive fingerprinting capability of SERS, the nanosensor can monitor the endogenous H₂S generated in a variety of pathophysiological pathways.