title: Circulating tumor cell identification by functionalized silver-gold nanorods with multicolor, super-enhanced SERS and photothermal resonances.
abstract: Nanotechnology has been extensively explored for cancer diagnostics. However, the specificity of current methods to identify simultaneously several cancer biomarkers is limited due to color overlapping of bio-conjugated nanoparticles. Here, we present a technique to increase both the molecular and spectral specificity of cancer diagnosis by using tunable silver-gold nanorods with narrow surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and high photothermal contrast. The silver-gold nanorods were functionalized with four Raman-active molecules and four antibodies specific to breast cancer markers and with leukocyte-specific CD45 marker. More than two orders of magnitude of SERS signal enhancement was observed from these hybrid nanosystems compared to conventional gold nanorods. Using an antibody rainbow cocktail, we demonstrated highly specific detection of single breast cancer cells in unprocessed human blood. By integrating multiplex targeting, multicolor coding, and multimodal detection, our approach has the potential to improve multispectral imaging of individual tumor cells in complex biological environments.
authors.affiliation: Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204, USA.
authors.forename: Zeid A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Nima
authors.affiliation: Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204, USA.
authors.forename: Meena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahmood
authors.affiliation: Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204, USA.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204, USA.
authors.forename: Thikra
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mustafa
authors.affiliation: Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204, USA.
authors.forename: Fumiya
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Arkansas Nanomedicine Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205, USA.
authors.forename: Dmitry A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Nedosekin
authors.affiliation: Arkansas Nanomedicine Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205, USA.
authors.forename: Mazen A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Juratli
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205, USA.
authors.forename: Tariq
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fahmi
authors.affiliation: Arkansas Nanomedicine Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205, USA.
authors.forename: Ekaterina I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Galanzha
authors.affiliation: La Jolla Bioengineering Institute, San Diego, California, USA.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Nolan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205, USA.
authors.forename: Alexei G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Basnakian
authors.affiliation: Arkansas Nanomedicine Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205, USA.
authors.forename: Vladimir P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Zharov
authors.affiliation: Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204, USA.
authors.forename: Alexandru S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Biris
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies / Q000737:chemistry; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000379:methods; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012834:Silver; D006046:Gold; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens