title: Raman and SERS recognition of β-carotene and haemoglobin fingerprints in human whole blood.
abstract: The present work reports on Raman and Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) vibrational fingerprints of β-carotene and haemoglobin in fresh whole blood (i.e. right after blood test) with different laser excitations, i.e. visible (514 nm) and near-infrared (NIR, 785 nm). The use of colloidal silver nanoparticles significantly increases the Raman signal, thus providing a clear SERS spectrum of blood. The collected spectra have been examined and marker bands of β-carotene and of the haem prosthetic group of haemoglobin have been found. In particular, the fundamental features of β-carotene (514 nm excitation), blood proteins and haem molecules (785 nm excitation) were recognized and assigned. Moreover haemoglobin SERS signals can be identified and related with its oxygenation state (oxy-haemoglobin). The data reported show the prospects of Raman and SERS techniques to detect important bio-molecules in a whole blood sample with no pre-treatment.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci 31, I-20133 Milan, Italy. michele.casella@polimi.it
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Casella
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lucotti
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tommasini
authors.forename: Marzia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bedoni
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Forvi
authors.forename: Furio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gramatica
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zerbi
mesh_terms: D003878:Dermatoglyphics; D006418:Heme / Q000737:chemistry*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D012834:Silver; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman; D013499:Surface Properties; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D019207:beta Carotene; D012834:Silver; D006418:Heme