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. 2013 Jun 25;7(6):4967-76.
doi: 10.1021/nn4018284. Epub 2013 May 14.

Three-dimensional hierarchical plasmonic nano-architecture enhanced surface-enhanced Raman scattering immunosensor for cancer biomarker detection in blood plasma

Ming Li  1 , Scott K Cushing, Jianming Zhang, Savan Suri, Rebecca Evans, William P Petros, Laura F Gibson, Dongling Ma, Yuxin Liu, Nianqiang Wu
Affiliations

Three-dimensional hierarchical plasmonic nano-architecture enhanced surface-enhanced Raman scattering immunosensor for cancer biomarker detection in blood plasma

Ming Li et al. ACS Nano. .

Abstract

A three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical plasmonic nano-architecture has been designed for a sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) immunosensor for protein biomarker detection. The capture antibody molecules are immobilized on a plasmonic gold triangle nanoarray pattern. On the other hand, the detection antibody molecules are linked to the gold nanostar@Raman reporter@silica sandwich nanoparticles. When protein biomarkers are present, the sandwich nanoparticles are captured over the gold triangle nanoarray, forming a confined 3D plasmonic field, leading to the enhanced electromagnetic field in intensity and in 3D space. As a result, the Raman reporter molecules are exposed to a high density of "hot spots", which amplifies the Raman signal remarkably, improving the sensitivity of the SERS immunosensor. This SERS immunosensor exhibits a wide linear range (0.1 pg/mL to 10 ng/mL) and a low limit of detection (7 fg/mL) toward human immunoglobulin G protein in the buffer solution. This biosensor has been successfully used for detection of the vascular endothelial growth factor in the human blood plasma from clinical breast cancer patient samples.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
TEM images of (a) the Au sphere@MGITC@SiO2 sandwich nanoparticles and (b) the Au star@MGITC@SiO2 sandwich nanoparticles, (c) SEM image of the Au triangle nano-array, and (d) UV-visible absorption spectra of the Au sphere@MGITC@SiO2 sandwich nanoparticles and the Au star@MGITC@SiO2 sandwich nanoparticles
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic illustration of conjugation of (a) the SERS probe (sandwich nanoparticle) to the detection antibody, and (b) the Au triangle nano-array chip to the capture antibody; (c) Schematic illustration of the operating principle of SERS immuno-sensor for biomarker detection. The structure of VEGF biomarker is created by PyMOL with a four-digit code: 1VPF.
Figure 3
Figure 3
SERS spectra of the Au star@MGITC@SiO2 sandwich nanoparticle coupled to the Au triangle nano-array chip in various concentrations of IgG in the PBS buffer solution (0.1 pg/mL, 0.5 pg/mL, 1.0 pg/mL, 5.0 pg/mL, 10 pg/mL, 50 pg/mL, 0.1 ng/mL, 0.5 ng/mL, 1.0 ng/mL, 10 ng/mL, 100 ng/mL, 500 ng/mL and 1.0 μg/mL).
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) Plots of SERS peak intensity at 1578 cm−1 as a function of the logarithmic concentration of IgG, and (b) the linear range of (a). (■) the Au sphere coupled on the Au film, ( formula image) the Au spheres coupled on the Au triangle nano-array, and ( formula image) the Au stars coupled on the Au triangle nano-array.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) SERS spectra of the Au star@MGITC@SiO2 sandwich nanoparticle/Au triangle nano-array immuno-sensor, which responded to various concentrations of VEGF biomarker in blood plasma, and (b) the plot of the intensity of SERS peak at 1578 cm−1 as a function of the logarithmic concentration of VEGF in blood plasma
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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