Nanogap‐Rich Au Nanowire SERS Sensor for Ultrasensitive Telomerase Activity Detection: Application to Gastric and Breast Cancer Tissues Diagnosis

Abstract

Telomerase has attracted much attention as a universal cancer biomarker because telomerase is overexpressed in more than 85% of human cancer cells while suppressed in normal somatic cells. Since a strong association exists between telomerase activity and human cancers, the development of effective telomerase activity assay is critically important. Here, a nanogaprich Au nanowire (NW) surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor is reported for detection of telomerase activity in various cancer cells and tissues. The nanogap-rich Au NWs are constructed by deposition of nanoparticles on single-crystalline Au NWs and provided highly reproducible SERS spectra. The telomeric substrate (TS) primer-attached nanogap-rich Au NWs can detect telomerase activity through SERS measurement after the elongation of TS primers, folding into G-quadruplex structures, and intercalation of methylene blue. This sensor enables us to detect telomerase activity from various cancer cell lines with a detection limit of 0.2 cancer cells mL −1 . Importantly, the nanogap-rich Au NW sensor can diagnose gastric and breast cancer tissues accurately. The nanogap-rich Au NW sensors show strong SERS signals only in the presence of tumor tissues excised from 16 tumorbearing mice, while negligible signals in the presence of heated tumor tissues or normal tissues. It is anticipated that nanogap-rich Au NW SERS sensors can be used for a universal cancer diagnosis and further biomedical applications including a diverse biomarker sensing.

Metal–Organic Framework Coating for the Preservation of Silver Nanowire Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering Platform

“…Noble‐metal NWs have become promising materials in various research efforts owing to their outstanding physicochemical properties . In particular, the use of single‐crystalline noble‐metal NWs has received much attention for SERS‐based biochemical analyte detection because their well‐defined geometries and atomically smooth surfaces provide remarkable reproducibility and signal enhancement . In this regard, we adopted an Ag‐NOF architecture as a SERS‐active platform.…”

“…Single‐NOF architectures are stable and efficient SERS‐active platforms . Hence, such structures have been employed for the sensitive and accurate detection of nucleic acids and further advanced to sophisticated disease diagnostic sensors . The present Ag‐NOF structures can also be used for the detection of DNA.…”

In Vitro and In Vivo SERS Biosensing for Disease Diagnosis

“…Here, the MUC1 positive tumor demonstrated uptake of the aptamer-functionalized nanoparticles, while the MUC1 negative tumor did not uptake the nanoparticles, which allowed for detection of the MUC1 signal with SERS upon ex vivo analysis. LODs of 0.2 cells mL −1 for MCF-7 cells have been achieved using Au nanowire sensors for the detection of telomerase activity, which is hypothesized to be a good target for early cancer detection [ 89 ]. Telomerase is involved in the maintenance of telomeres, or DNA protein complexes found at the end of chromosomes, which are key to the survival of cancers.…”

Design of plasmonic nanomaterials for diagnostic spectrometry

“…Spectrometry methods display advantages in terms of sensitivity, throughput, and cost compared with conventional diagnostic methods such as physical examination. 10 Among the diagnostic spectrometry methods, MALDI MS 14,21 and SERS 22,23 are two prominent emerging tools. In MALDI MS, matrix materials determine the LDI efficiency with identication of diverse molecules over a broad mass range.…”

“…6,14,24 In SERS, substrate materials enhance the Raman signals for ultrasensitive detection even at the single molecule level. 23,25 Notably, both MALDI MS and SERS require engineered nanomaterials with tuneable plasmonic properties, considering the key role of the interface between materials and light in both methods.…”