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  3. A sensitive and specific nanosensor for monitoring extracellular potassium levels in the brain

A sensitive and specific nanosensor for monitoring extracellular potassium levels in the brain

  • Nat Nanotechnol. 2020 Apr;15(4):321-330. doi: 10.1038/s41565-020-0634-4.
Jianan Liu # 1 2,  Fangyuan Li # 3 4 5,  Yi Wang # 6,  Limin Pan # 7,  Peihua Lin 3 4,  Bo Zhang 8,  Yanrong Zheng 6,  Yingwei Xu 6,  Hongwei Liao 3 4,  Giho Ko 1 2,  Fan Fei 6,  Cenglin Xu 6,  Yang Du 3 4,  Kwangsoo Shin 1 2,  Dokyoon Kim 1 9,  Sung-Soo Jang 10,  Hee Jung Chung 10,  He Tian 11,  Qi Wang 8,  Wei Guo 12,  Jwa-Min Nam 7,  Zhong Chen 13 14,  Taeghwan Hyeon 15 16,  Daishun Ling 17 18 19
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Center for Nanoparticle Research, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  • 2 School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Institute of Chemical Processes, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  • 3 College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
  • 4 Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
  • 5 Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of the Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
  • 6 Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of China, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
  • 7 Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  • 8 Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
  • 9 Department of Bionano Engineering and Bionanotechnology, Hanyang University, Ansan, Republic of Korea.
  • 10 Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
  • 11 Center of Electron Microscope, State Key Laboratory of Silicon Material, School of Material Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
  • 12 CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
  • 13 College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. chenzhong@zju.edu.cn.
  • 14 Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of China, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. chenzhong@zju.edu.cn.
  • 15 Center for Nanoparticle Research, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul, Republic of Korea. thyeon@snu.ac.kr.
  • 16 School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Institute of Chemical Processes, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. thyeon@snu.ac.kr.
  • 17 College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. lingds@zju.edu.cn.
  • 18 Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. lingds@zju.edu.cn.
  • 19 Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of the Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. lingds@zju.edu.cn.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 32042163 DOI: 10.1038/s41565-020-0634-4
Abstract

Extracellular potassium concentration affects the membrane potential of neurons, and, thus, neuronal activity. Indeed, alterations of potassium levels can be related to neurological disorders, such as epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease, and, therefore, selectively detecting extracellular potassium would allow the monitoring of disease. However, currently available optical reporters are not capable of detecting small changes in potassium, in particular, in freely moving Animals. Furthermore, they are susceptible to interference from sodium ions. Here, we report a highly sensitive and specific potassium nanosensor that can monitor potassium changes in the brain of freely moving mice undergoing epileptic seizures. An optical potassium indicator is embedded in mesoporous silica nanoparticles, which are shielded by an ultrathin layer of a potassium-permeable membrane, which prevents diffusion of Other cations and allows the specific capturing of potassium ions. The shielded nanosensor enables the spatial mapping of potassium ion release in the hippocampus of freely moving mice.

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