title: Secondary ions mass spectrometric signal enhancement of peptides on enlarged-gold nanoparticle surfaces.
abstract: A high surface coverage of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is a prerequisite for enhancing the peptide signal intensity in time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). Here, we demonstrate the TOF-SIMS signal amplification of peptides on a surface by enlarging surface-confined AuNPs using the NH(2)OH/Au(3+) seeding method. Because of the increased surface area and spherical structure of the Au, the SIMS intensity of the peptides became significantly enhanced on the enlarged-AuNPs surface, especially at high concentrations of peptide solution (>10 μM), compared to that of the bare gold surface or submonolyer of AuNPs. We are confident that this will be a useful method for diagnosis and bioassay with high sensitivity in a label-free manner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea. ypilkim@hanyang.ac.kr
authors.forename: Young-Pil
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Tae Geol
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010455:Peptides / Q000032:analysis*; D018629:Spectrometry, Mass, Secondary Ion / Q000379:methods*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D006046:Gold