Open AccessSERS-active Au/SiO_2 clouds in powder for rapid ex vivo breast adenocarcinoma diagnosis
Author(s) -
Elisa Cepeda-Pérez,
Tzarara López–Luke,
P. Salas,
Germán Plascencia-Villa,
Arturo Ponce,
Juan L. ViveroEscoto,
Miguel José–Yacamán,
E. De la Rosa
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
biomedical optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.362
H-Index - 86
ISSN - 2156-7085
DOI - 10.1364/boe.7.002407
Subject(s) - ex vivo , materials science , raman scattering , colloidal gold , nanoparticle , raman spectroscopy , biomolecule , nanotechnology , chemistry , optics , in vitro , biochemistry , physics
In the present work, we report a dry-based application technique of Au/SiO2 clouds in powder for rapid ex vivo adenocarcinoma diagnosis through surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS); using low laser power and an integration time of one second. Several characteristic Raman peaks frequently used for the diagnosis of breast adenocarcinoma in the range of the amide III are successfully enhanced by breading the tissue with Au/SiO2 powder. The SERS activity of these Au/SiO2 powders is attributed to their rapid rehydration upon contact with the wet tissues, which promotes the formation of gold nanoparticle aggregates. The propensity of the Au/SiO2 cloud structures to adsorb biomolecules in the vicinity of the gold nanoparticle clusters promotes the necessary conditions for SERS detection. In addition, electron microscopy, together with elemental analysis, have been used to confirm the structure of the new Au/SiO2 cloud material and to investigate its distribution in breast tissues.