Development of SERS based biosensor for cancer screening

Abstract

The demand for specific and accurate cancer screening has driven the development of novel diagnostic platforms having high selectivity and sensitivity. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) based biosensors have been continuously developed as new biodiagnostic tools for highly sensitive molecular and cellular detection due to advantages in the richness of spectroscopic information together with high spatial resolution. The key to accomplishing highly effective SERS-based detection in bioanalysis depends on the strong electromagnetic enhancement of SERS substrate and probe-target interactions. To achieve high signal enhancement, Raman active molecules need to be in close proximity to roughened metallic surface in nanometer-scale. Gold nanorods (GNRs) have been utilized for SERS tags fabrication to detect biomolecules such as cells, proteins, and oligonucleotides, due to their strong light absorption and scattering. To realize targeting property, DNA probes can be attached to GNRs surface to provide specific cells and nucleic acid detection. Therefore, the selectivity and sensitivity of the detection could be achieved by the specificity of DNA probes towards their targets and the strong detectable signal from SERS technique. 

Keywords: Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS); gold nanorod; biosensor; cancer screedetection