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Atta S, Vo-Dinh T. Improved solution-based SERS detection of creatinine by inducing hydrogen-bonding interaction for effective analyte capture. Talanta 2024; 278:126373. [PMID: 38901075 DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2024.126373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2024] [Revised: 05/20/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024]
Abstract
Recently, solution-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection technique has been widely recognized due to its cost-effectiveness, simplicity, and ease of use. However, solution-based SERS is limited for practical applications mainly because of the weak adsorption affinity of the target biomolecules to the surface of plasmonic nanoparticles. Herein, we developed a highly sensitive solution-based SERS sensing platform based on mercaptopropionic acid (MPA)-capped silver-coated gold nanostars (SGNS@MPA), which allows efficient enrichment on the nanostars surface for improved detection of an analyte: creatinine, a potential biomarker of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The SGNS@MPA exhibited high enrichment ability towards creatinine molecules in alkaline medium (pH-9) through multiple hydrogen bonding interaction, which causes aggregation of the nanoparticles and enhances the SERS signal of creatinine. The detection limit for creatinine was achieved at 0.1 nM, with a limit of detection (LOD) value of 14.6 pM. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, we conducted the first quantitative detection of creatinine in noninvasive human fluids, such as saliva and sweat, under separation-free conditions. We achieved a detection limit of up to 1 nM for both saliva and sweat, with LOD values as low as 0.136 nM for saliva and 0.266 nM for sweat. Overall, our molecular enrichment strategy offers a new way to improve the solution-based SERS detection technique for real-world practical applications in point-of-care settings and low-resource settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Supriya Atta
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Durham, NC, 27708, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Tuan Vo-Dinh
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Durham, NC, 27708, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA; Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
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2
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Atta S, Zhao Y, Li JQ, Vo-Dinh T. Dual-Modal Colorimetric and Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS)-Based Lateral Flow Immunoassay for Ultrasensitive Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Using a Plasmonic Gold Nanocrown. Anal Chem 2024; 96:4783-4790. [PMID: 38471066 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c04361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/14/2024]
Abstract
The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak created an unprecedented need for rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective point-of-care diagnostic tests to prevent and mitigate the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Herein, we demonstrated an advanced lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) platform with dual-functional [colorimetric and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)] detection of the spike 1 (S1) protein of SARS-CoV-2. The nanosensor was integrated with a specially designed core-gap-shell morphology consisting of a gold shell decorated with external nanospheres, a structure referred to as gold nanocrown (GNC), labeled with a Raman reporter molecule 1,3,3,1',3',3'-hexamethyl-2,2'-indotricarbocyanine iodide (HITC) to produce a strong colorimetric signal as well as an enhanced SERS signal. Among the different plasmonics-active GNC nanostructures, the GNC-2 morphology, which has a shell decorated with an optimum number and size of nanospheres, produces an intense dark-blue colorimetric signal and ultrahigh SERS signal. The limit of detection (LOD) of the S1 protein via colorimetric detection LFIA was determined to be 91.24 pg/mL. On the other hand, the LOD for the SERS LFIA method was more than three orders of magnitude lower at 57.21 fg/mL. Furthermore, we analyzed the performance of the GNC-2 nanosensor for directly analyzing the S1 protein spiked in saliva samples without any sample pretreatment and achieving the LOD as low as 39.65 fg/mL using SERS-based plasmonics-enhanced LFIA, indicating ultrahigh detection sensitivity. Overall, our GNC nanosensor showed excellent sensitivity, reproducibility, and rapid detection of the SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein, demonstrating excellent potential as a promising point-of-care platform for the early detection of respiratory virus infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Supriya Atta
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
| | - Yuanhao Zhao
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
| | - Joy Qiaoyi Li
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
| | - Tuan Vo-Dinh
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
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Parmigiani M, Schifano V, Taglietti A, Galinetto P, Albini B. Increasing gold nanostars SERS response with silver shells: a surface-based seed-growth approach. NANOTECHNOLOGY 2024; 35:195603. [PMID: 38306966 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ad25c9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/04/2024]
Abstract
A straightforward method to prepare surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) chips containing a monolayer of silver coated gold nanostars (GNS@Ag) grafted on a glass surface is introduced. The synthetic approach is based on a seed growth method performed directly on surface, using GNS as seeds, and involving a green pathway, which only uses silver nitate, ascorbic acid and water, to grow the silver shell. The preparation was optimized to maximize signals obtaining a SERS response of one order of magnitude greater than that from the original GNS based chips, offering in the meantime good homogeneity and acceptable reproducibility. The proposed GNS@Ag SERS chips are able to detect pesticide thiram down to 20 ppb.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Parmigiani
- Dipartimento di Chimica, Sezione di Chimica Generale, Università di Pavia, viale Taramelli, 12-I-27100 Pavia-Italy
| | - Veronica Schifano
- Dipartimento di Chimica, Sezione di Chimica Generale, Università di Pavia, viale Taramelli, 12-I-27100 Pavia-Italy
| | - Angelo Taglietti
- Dipartimento di Chimica, Sezione di Chimica Generale, Università di Pavia, viale Taramelli, 12-I-27100 Pavia-Italy
| | - Pietro Galinetto
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pavia, Via Bassi 6,-I-27100 Pavia-Italy
| | - Benedetta Albini
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pavia, Via Bassi 6,-I-27100 Pavia-Italy
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Shen S, Qiu J, Huo D, Xia Y. Nanomaterial-Enabled Photothermal Heating and Its Use for Cancer Therapy via Localized Hyperthermia. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024; 20:e2305426. [PMID: 37803412 PMCID: PMC10922052 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202305426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Revised: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/08/2023]
Abstract
Photothermal therapy (PTT), which employs nanoscale transducers delivered into a tumor to locally generate heat upon irradiation with near-infrared light, shows great potential in killing cancer cells through hyperthermia. The efficacy of such a treatment is determined by a number of factors, including the amount, distribution, and dissipation of the generated heat, as well as the type of cancer cell involved. The amount of heat generated is largely controlled by the number of transducers accumulated inside the tumor, the absorption coefficient and photothermal conversion efficiency of the transducer, and the irradiance of the light. The efficacy of treatment depends on the distribution of the transducers in the tumor and the penetration depth of the light. The vascularity and tissue thermal conduction both affect the dissipation of heat and thereby the distribution of temperature. The successful implementation of PTT in the clinic setting critically depends on techniques for real-time monitoring and management of temperature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Song Shen
- The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, China
| | - Jichuan Qiu
- The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | - Da Huo
- The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | - Younan Xia
- The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
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Atta S, Canning AJ, Vo-Dinh T. Rapid SERS assay for determination of the opioid fentanyl using silver-coated sharply branched gold nanostars. Mikrochim Acta 2024; 191:110. [PMID: 38252139 DOI: 10.1007/s00604-023-06172-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
A high-throughput surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-sensing platform is presented for FNT detection in human urine without any sample preparation. The sensing platform is based on plasmonics-active silver-coated sharply branched gold nanostars (SGNS). The effect of silver thickness was investigated experimentally and theoretically, and the results indicated that SERS enhancement was maximum at an optimum silver thickness of 45 nm on the sharply spiked SGNS. The proposed high-throughput SERS platform exhibited ultrahigh sensitivity and excellent enhancement uniformity for a model analyte, i.e., crystal violet. Moreover, the SERS-sensing platform demonstrated good sensitivity of FNT spiked in human urine samples with two differential linear response ranges of 2 to 0.2 µg/mL and 0.1 µg/mL to 100 pg/mL, respectively, with a detection limit as low as 10.02 pg/mL. The spiked human urine samples show satisfactory recovery values from 92.5 to 102% with relative standard deviations (RSD) of less than 10%. In summary, the high-throughput performance of the proposed microplate-based SERS platform demonstrated great potential for rapid low-cost SERS-based sensing applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Supriya Atta
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Aidan J Canning
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Tuan Vo-Dinh
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
- Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
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Tukova A, Tavakkoli Yaraki M, Rodger A, Wang Y. Shape-Induced Variations in Aromatic Thiols Adsorption on Gold Nanoparticle: A Novel Method for Accurate Evaluation of Adsorbed Molecules. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2023; 39:15828-15836. [PMID: 37901970 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c02563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2023]
Abstract
Nonspherical gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are increasingly used to enhance sensitivity and selectivity in analytical methods such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for detecting trace biomarkers. However, there is limited research on the adsorption properties of aromatic thiols onto gold nanoparticles of different morphologies, where surface curvature varies significantly at the molecular level. In this study, we investigated the adsorption kinetics of 4-mercaptobenzoic acid, an aromatic molecule, on GNPs with different shapes using SERS. Our findings revealed significant differences in the adsorption behavior and binding site preferences of aromatic thiols on GNPs with distinct morphologies. While thiol molecules consider any surface site on nanospheres equally appealing, nanostars exhibit variations in curvature and surface energy, leading to initial binding with further repositioning from the tips of the nanostar after plasmon activation. To address these differences, we proposed a universal method to evaluate the quantity of tightly bound adsorbed molecules on GNPs independently of the particle size, shape, or concentration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasiia Tukova
- School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Mohammad Tavakkoli Yaraki
- School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Alison Rodger
- School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
- Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Facilitated Advancement of Australia's Bioactives (FAAB), Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Yuling Wang
- School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
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Atta S, Li JQ, Vo-Dinh T. Multiplex SERS detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) pollutants in water samples using gold nanostars and machine learning analysis. Analyst 2023; 148:5105-5116. [PMID: 37671999 DOI: 10.1039/d3an00636k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/07/2023]
Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have attracted a lot of environmental concern because of their carcinogenic and mutagenic properties, and the fact they can easily contaminate natural resources such as drinking water and river water. This study presents a simple and sensitive point-of-care SERS detection of PAHs combined with machine learning algorithms to predict the PAH content more precisely and accurately in real-life samples such as drinking water and river water. We first synthesized multibranched sharp-spiked surfactant-free gold nanostars (GNSs) that can generate strong surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signals, which were further coated with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) for long-term stability of the GNSs as well as to trap PAHs. We utilized CTAB-capped GNSs for solution-based 'mix and detect' SERS sensing of various PAHs including pyrene (PY), nitro-pyrene (NP), anthracene (ANT), benzo[a]pyrene (BAP), and triphenylene (TP) spiked in drinking water and river water using a portable Raman module. Very low limits of detection (LOD) were achieved in the nanomolar range for the PAHs investigated. More importantly, the detected SERS signal was reproducible for over 90 days after synthesis. Furthermore, we analyzed the SERS data using artificial intelligence (AI) with machine learning algorithms based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) model in order to discriminate the PAHs in samples more precisely and accurately. Using a CNN classification model, we achieved a high prediction accuracy of 90% in the nanomolar detection range and an f1 score (harmonic mean of precision and recall) of 94%, and using a CNN regression model, achieved an RMSEconc = 1.07 × 10-1 μM. Overall, our SERS platform can be effectively and efficiently used for the accurate detection of PAHs in real-life samples, thus opening up a new, sensitive, selective, and practical approach for point-of-need SERS diagnosis of small molecules in complex practical environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Supriya Atta
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Joy Qiaoyi Li
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Tuan Vo-Dinh
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
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Ultra-trace SERS detection of cocaine and heroin using bimetallic gold-silver nanostars (BGNS-Ag). Anal Chim Acta 2023; 1251:340956. [PMID: 36925275 DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2023.340956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023]
Abstract
A rapid, in-field, and reliable method for the detection of illegal drugs of abuse in biological fluids without any sample pretreatment would potentially be helpful for law enforcement, drug control officials, and public healthcare. In this study, we presented a cost-effective and highly reproducible solution-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) platform utilizing a portable Raman instrument for fast sensitive SERS detection of illegal drugs, such as cocaine, and heroin in human urine without any sample preprocessing. The SERS platform was constructed for the first time by combining the superior SERS enhancement properties of bimetallic silver-coated gold nanostars (BGNS-Ag) and the advantages of suitable alkaline metal salts such as NaI for SERS signal amplification. The effects of the silver thickness of BGNS-Ag and alkaline salts on the SERS performance were investigated in detail; we observed that the maximum SERS enhancement was obtained for BGNS-Ag with the maximum silver thickness (54 ± 5 nm) in presence of NaI salt. Our SERS platform shows ultra-high sensitivity of cocaine and heroin with a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 10 pg/mL for cocaine and 100 pg/mL for heroin, which was 100 times lower than that of the traditional silver nanoparticle-based illegal drug detection. As a demonstration, the platform was further applied to detect cocaine and heroin spiked in human urine without any sample preprocessing achieving a LOD of 100 pg/mL for cocaine and 1 ng/mL for heroin. Overall, our SERS detection platform shows potential for rapid, onsite, ultra-low-cost portable applications for trace detection of illegal drugs and biomarkers.
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Atta S, Vo-Dinh T. A hybrid plasmonic nanoprobe using polyvinylpyrrolidone-capped bimetallic silver-gold nanostars for highly sensitive and reproducible solution-based SERS sensing. Analyst 2023; 148:1786-1796. [PMID: 36920068 PMCID: PMC11000622 DOI: 10.1039/d2an01876d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
Practical solution-based assays using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) with portable instrumentation are currently of particular interest for rapid, efficient, and low-cost detection of analytes. However, current assays still have limited applicability due to their poor sensitivity and reproducibility. Herein, we demonstrate highly stable polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-capped bimetallic silver-coated gold nanostars (BGNS-Ag-PVP) as a solution-based SERS nanoprobe that is capable of producing a strong, uniform, and reproducible SERS signal using a portable Raman instrument. The developed hybrid BGNS-Ag-PVP nanostructure shows tunable optical properties with improved SERS sensitivity and reproducibility as compared to gold nanostars. We have synthesized bimetallic nanoprobes BGNS-Ag-PVP having three different silvers, referred to as BGNS-Ag-PVP-1, BGNS-Ag-PVP-2, and BGNS-Ag-PVP-3. The SERS performance of BGNS-Ag-PVP was studied using methylene blue (Meb) as a probe molecule, and we achieved a detection limit of up to 10 nM indicating the high sensitivity of the solution-based SERS platform. The application of such bimetallic nanoparticles is demonstrated via the sensitive detection of the antithyroid drug methimazole (Mz) used as a model analyte system. We have achieved a detection limit of 1 nM for Mz spiked with human urine indicating three orders of magnitude lower than previously reported solution-based SERS detection methods. Furthermore, the SERS performance was reproducible over 3 months indicating excellent stability and repeatability. The result illustrates the potential of this solution-based SERS detection platform as a promising sensing tool for analytes such as illicit drugs, and biomarkers that have affinity to bind on nanoprobes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Supriya Atta
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Tuan Vo-Dinh
- Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
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