The level and dynamics of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) in single living cells are closely related to many kinds of important physiological and pathological processes. Herein, we report a nanosensor based on polyimidazolium brush (PimB)-modified nanopipette for intracellular ATP assay, which shows good selectivity, high spatiotemporal resolution and excellent stability. Both the specific supramolecular interaction between polyimidazolium and ATP, and the rationally tunable property of the ion transport at a confined nanopipette enable the selective assay of ATP even in complex intracellular environment. Moreover, the tiny tip (ca.300 nm) and the low polarized current (e.g., 1 nA) essentially make the as-prepared nanosensor safe to the living cells. The nanosensor is demonstrated to be useful for in-situ monitoring the basal ATP levels of chromaffin cells from wild-type mice and DJ-1 knockout mice, and for real-time monitoring the metabolism process of intracellular ATP.

单个活细胞中5'-三磷酸腺苷（ATP）的水平和动力学与许多重要的生理和病理过程密切相关。在本文中，我们报道了一种基于聚咪唑刷（PimB）修饰的纳米移液器的纳米传感器，用于细胞内ATP测定，显示出良好的选择性，高的时空分辨率和出色的稳定性。聚咪唑鎓与ATP之间的特定超分子相互作用，以及在受限的纳米移液管中离子迁移的合理可调性质，即使在复杂的细胞内环境中也可以进行ATP的选择性测定。此外，微小的尖端（约300 nm）和低极化电流（例如1 nA）实质上使所制备的纳米传感器对活细胞安全。纳米传感器被证明对原位监测野生型和DJ-1基因敲除小鼠的嗜铬细胞的基础ATP水平，并实时监测细胞内ATP的代谢过程。