SERS Tags for Biomedical Detection and Bioimaging

Abstract

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has emerged as a valuable technique for molecular identification. Due to the characteristics of high sensitivity, excellent signal specificity, and photobleaching resistance, SERS has been widely used in the fields of environmental monitoring, food safety, and disease diagnosis. By attaching the organic molecules to the surface of plasmonic nanoparticles, the obtained SERS tags show high-performance multiplexing capability for biosensing. The past decade has witnessed the progress of SERS tags for liquid biopsy, bioimaging, and theranostics applications. This review focuses on the advances of SERS tags in biomedical fields. We first introduce the building blocks of SERS tags, followed by the summarization of recent progress in SERS tags employed for detecting biomarkers, such as DNA, miRNA, and protein in biological fluids, as well as imaging from in vitro cell, bacteria, tissue to in vivo tumors. Further, we illustrate the appealing applications of SERS tags for delineating tumor margins and cancer diagnosis. In the end, perspectives of SERS tags projecting into the possible obstacles are deliberately proposed in future clinical translation.

Emerging SERS biosensors for the analysis of cells and extracellular vesicles

“…This approach selectively identifies the target by monitoring the Raman spectrum from the SERS tag. 183 Due to the high sensitivity of this method, label-aided SERS platforms have been widely utilised in the detection of biomarkers on cancer cells and EVs. 15,16,[184][185][186][187] Label-free SERS detects the intrinsic Raman spectrum of the analyte.…”

“…There are a large variety of SERS tags with different chemical and structural properties reported in the literature. 183,189 Typically, the SERS tags' design would include nanoparticles either metallic or non-metallic NPs as the core, coated with the Raman reporter molecule (which serves as label) and targeting molecules (Fig. 8).…”

“…8). 183,[189][190][191] The rest of the design aims for high signal ratios to enable lower detection limits and specific targeting for reliable analysis and reproducible results. Development of label-SERS systems requires the conjugation of Raman reporter molecules to the surface of metal nanoparticles.…”

Recent Advances in Inflammatory Diagnosis with Graphene Quantum Dots Enhanced SERS Detection

“…The specificity and sensitivity of the Raman spectrum make it possible to accurately detect related physiological analytes in complex biological fluids. To detect inflammatory biomarkers, the Raman spectrum is linked to relevant detection molecules (such as antibodies and aptamers) to allow specific targets to be measured with Raman signals [ 142 , 143 ].…”

Recent Advances in Monitoring Stem Cell Status and Differentiation Using Nano-Biosensing Technologies

“…SERS is a phenomenon that can significantly enhance the Raman signal when molecules are absorbed or approached near the surface of metal nanoparticles [ 181 ]. It can detect even single molecules and is suitable for long-term monitoring [ 182 ]. Although roughed gold, silver, and copper metal surfaces have been used as typical SERS active substrates [ 183 ], recently, a SERS substrate was expanded with semiconductors, graphene, and quantum dot, which also show strong SERS enhancement [ 184 ].…”