Imaging and SERS Study of the Au Nanoparticles Interaction with HPV and Carcinogenic Cervical Tissues

Abstract

In this work, gold NPs were prepared by the Turkevich method, and their interaction with HPV and cancerous cervical tissues were studied by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, confocal and multiphoton microscopy and SERS. The SEM images confirmed the presence and localization of the gold NPs inside of the two kinds of tissues. The light absorption of the gold NPs was at 520 nm. However, it was possible to obtain two-photon imaging (red emission region) of the gold NPs inside of the tissue, exciting the samples at 900 nm, observing the morphology of the tissues. The infrared absorption was probably due to the aggregation of gold NPs inside the tissues. Therefore, through the interaction of gold nanoparticles with the HPV and cancerous cervical tissues, a surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was obtained. As preliminary studies, having an average of 1000 Raman spectra per tissue, SERS signals showed changes between the HPV-infected and the carcinogenic tissues; these spectral signatures occurred mainly in the DNA bands, potentially offering a tool for the rapid screening of cancer.

Raman spectroscopy and its plasmon‐enhanced counterparts: A toolbox to probe protein dynamics and aggregation

“…When noble metal nanoparticles are directly dropped on tissues or tissues are incubated with nanoparticle solution, a coating of nanoparticles will form on the surface of the tissues, which allows probing by SERS (Ceja-Fdez et al, 2021). A nonspecific method is primarily used to distinguish between healthy and diseased tissues using differences in SERS spectra, including subtle variations in vibrations from proteins and other species.…”

Label-Free Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopic Analysis of Proteins: Advances and Applications

“…SERS of proteins in tissues are detectable by directly dropping noble metal nanoparticles on tissues or mixing tissues with a nanoparticle solution, and nanoparticle coating will form at the surface of the tissues [78][79][80]. Alternatively, tissues can be placed on SERS-active substrates and SERS collected from the top of the issues [81].…”

Raman Spectroscopy of Individual Cervical Exfoliated Cells in Premalignant and Malignant Lesions

“…Another study compared spectral characteristics between cervical tissue infected with HPV and tissue from invasive carcinoma using SERS, with gold nanoparticles as substrate (Supplemental Material) [23]. Spectral differences were reported in the region 920-1140 cm −1 (lower intensity in carcinogenic vs. HPV).…”

“…The increment in nucleic acids and proteins is a reflection of an increased proliferation rate in tumor cells. They differentiate the presence of cervical cancer at an early stage [23]. In another SERS approach, AuNP 40-45 nm were mixed with cervical exfoliated cells CIN 1,2, and 3.…”