title: Chitosan-coated triangular silver nanoparticles as a novel class of biocompatible, highly sensitive plasmonic platforms for intracellular SERS sensing and imaging.
abstract: There is a need for new strategies for noninvasive imaging of pathological conditions within the human body. The approach of combining the unique physical properties of noble-metal nanoparticles with their chemical specificity and an easy way of conjugation open up new routes toward building bio-nano-objects for biomedical tracking and imaging. This work reports the design and assessment of a novel class of biocompatible, highly sensitive SERS nanotags based on chitosan-coated silver nanotriangles (Chit-AgNTs) labeled with para-aminothiophenol (p-ATP). The triangular nanoparticles are used as Raman scattering enhancers and have proved to yield a reproducible and strong SERS signal. When tested inside lung cancer cells (A549) this class of SERS nanotags presents low in vitro toxicity, without interfering with cell proliferation. Easily internalized by the cells, as demonstrated by imaging using both reflected bright-light optical microscopy and SERS spectroscopy, the particles are proved to be detectable inside cells under a wide window of excitation wavelengths, ranging from visible to near infrared (NIR). Their high sensitivity and NIR availability make this class of SERS nanotags a promising candidate for noninvasive imaging of cancer cells.
authors.affiliation: Nanobiophotonics and Laser Microscopy Center, Interdisciplinary Research in Bio-Nano-Sciences, and Faculty of Physics, Babes-Bolyai University, Treboniu Laurian Street 42, 400271 Cluj-Napoca, Romania. monica.potara@phys.ubbcluj.ro
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Potara
authors.forename: Sanda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boca
authors.forename: Emilia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Licarete
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Damert
authors.forename: Marius-Costel
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Alupei
authors.forename: Mircea T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Chiriac
authors.forename: Octavian
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Popescu
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Simion
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Astilean
mesh_terms: D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008422:Materials Testing; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D012834:Silver; D048271:Chitosan