Graphene oxide wrapped with gold nanorods as a tag in a SERS based immunoassay for the hepatitis B surface antigen

Abstract

A composite consisting of graphene oxide and gold nanorods (GO-GNRs) was designed for the trace determination of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). GO contains numerous carboxy and hydroxy groups on its surface and therefore can serve as the substrate for decoration with GNRs and for immobilizing antibody against HBsAg. The GNRs (carrying the SERS probe 2-mercaptopyridine) exhibit high SERS activity, and this improves the sensitivity of the biosensor. The antibody on the GO-GNRs binds HBsAg with high specificity, and it results in excellent selectivity. The SERS signal (measured at 1002 cm) increases in the 1-1000 pg·mL HBsAg concentrations range, and the limit of detection is 0.05 pg·mL (at an S/N ratio of 3). The immunoassay achieves the sensitive and selective determination of HBsAg in serum and expands the potential application of GO-GNR based SERS tag in clinical research. Graphical abstract A novel graphene oxide-gold nanorod (GO-GNRs) based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) tag for immunoassay was designed. It allows for sensitive and selective determination of HBsAg in serum. The method is expected to expand the potential application in the environment, in medicine and in food analysis.

Recent Progress in Plasmonic Biosensing Schemes for Virus Detection

“…Another virus SERS-based strategy has been proven to detect hepatitis B surface antigen HBsAg [ 45 ]. The biosensor utilized an active tag consisting of a composite of graphene oxide (GO) containing carboxy and hydroxy groups decorated with gold nanorods (GNRs).…”

“…Finally, another composite consisting of gold nanorods and graphene oxide and gold nanorods (GO-GNRs) was applied to the determination of hepatitis B surface antigen using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) as described above [ 45 ].…”

“…The data were collected by averaging five measurements. Adapted with permission from Miu et al [ 45 ] Copyright © (2016) Springer.…”

Application of carbon nanomaterials in human virus detection

“…b) Schematic illustration of Raman immunoassay based on GO-GNRs. Reprinted with the permission of Ref [ 91 ]. …”

“…The antibody on the GO-GNRs couples HBsAg with a high specific activity, resulting in a brilliant selectivity. The immunoassay determines the sensitivity and selectivity of HBsAg in serum and develops the potential of GO-GNR based surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy tag to be utilized in clinically related examinations [ 91 ]. Zhao et al.…”