title: A whole blood immunoassay using gold nanoshells.
abstract: A rapid immunoassay capable of detecting analyte within complex biological media without any sample preparation is described. This was accomplished using gold nanoshells, layered dielectric-metal nanoparticles whose optical resonance is a function of the relative size of its constituent layers. Aggregation of antibody/nanoshell conjugates with extinction spectra in the near-infrared was monitored spectroscopically in the presence of analyte. Successful detection of immunoglobulins was achieved in saline, serum, and whole blood. This system constitutes a simple immunoassay capable of detecting sub-nanogram-per-milliliter quantities of various analytes in different media within 10-30 min.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892, USA. lrhirsch@rice.edu
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Halas
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: West
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods*; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000097:blood*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D010316:Particle Size; D011817:Rabbits; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
chemical_list: D007136:Immunoglobulins; D006046:Gold