Aptamer-functionalized Au nanoparticles array as the effective SERS biosensor for label-free detection of interleukin-6 in serum

• Published in: Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical Vol. 334; p. 129607
• Main Authors: Muhammad, Muhammad, Shao, Chang-sheng, Huang, Qing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 01.05.2021; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Aptamer; Arrays; Au nanoparticles; Biosensor; Biosensors; Cytokines; Gold; Interleukin-6 (IL-6); Interleukins; Nanoparticles; Radiation injuries; Radiation injury; Raman spectroscopy; Substrates; Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS); Target recognition; Radiation injury; Au nanoparticles; Aptamer; Interleukin-6 (IL-6); Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS); Biosensor
• ISSN: 0925-4005; 1873-3077
• DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2021.129607

[Display omitted] •Homogeneous Au nanoparticles array was fabricated which showed high SERS activity.•The SERS substrate was modified with IL-6 aptamer which could recognized IL-6 specifically.•The aptamer-SERS assay could detect IL-6 in blood in a wide range with lower limit of detection of 1 pM.•Bacterial infection and radiation injure effect on mice could be evaluated based on IL-6 SERS detection. A label-free, highly sensitive, and selective biosensor for detection of interleukin-6 (IL-6), which is an important inflammatory and cancer progression cytokine, has been achieved by combining gold nanoparticles (NPs) array surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrate and DNA aptamer. The SERS substrate consisted of Au NPs array is functionalized with the aptamer which is composed of the IL-6 recognition sequence and the output signal reporter. Upon recognition of target IL-6 in serum, the aptamer changes its conformation, resulting in the corresponding change of the output Raman intensity ratio (I660/I736), with which the quantitative evaluation of IL-6 in 10-12-10-7 M range can be realized. This SERS approach was employed to detect IL-6 in mice serum for inspecting the effect of drug and bacterial infection, and particularly, the radiation injury in the treated animals. This work therefore exemplifies that the aptamer-based SERS biosensor can serve as a promising tool for quick and convenient medical diagnosis applications.