title: Modulating the Morphology of Gold Graphitic Nanocapsules for Plasmon Resonance-Enhanced Multimodal Imaging.
abstract: With their unique optical properties and distinct Raman signatures, graphitic nanomaterials can serve as substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) or provide signal amplification for bioanalysis and detection. However, a relatively weak Raman signal has limited further biomedical applications. This has been addressed by encapsulating gold nanorods (AuNRs) in a thin graphitic shell to form gold graphitic nanocapsules. This step improves plasmon resonance, which enhances Raman intensity, and has the potential for integrating two-photon luminescence (TPL) imaging capability. However, changing the morphology of gold graphitic nanocapsules such that high quality and stability are achieved remains a challenge. To address this task, we herein report a confinement chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method to prepare the construction of AuNR-encapsulated graphitic nanocapsules with these properties. Specifically, through morphological modulation, we (1) achieved higher plasmon resonance with near-IR incident light, thus achieving greater Raman intensity, and (2) successfully integrated two-photon luminescence dual-modal (Raman/TPL) bioimaging capabilities. Cancer-cell-specific aptamers were further modified on the AuNR@G graphitic surface through simple, but strong, π-π interactions to achieve imaging selectivity through differential cancer cell recognition.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Engineering and Theranostics, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Fang
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Engineering and Theranostics, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Xiu
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Engineering and Theranostics, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
authors.forename: Shan-Shan
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Microelectronic Science, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
authors.forename: Meng-Jie
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Engineering and Theranostics, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Xiao
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Engineering and Theranostics, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Engineering and Theranostics, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Ting
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Engineering and Theranostics, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
authors.forename: Xue-Wei
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Engineering and Theranostics, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
authors.forename: Ding
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau , E11, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China.
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Engineering and Theranostics, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
authors.forename: Zhuo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Engineering and Theranostics, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000737:chemistry; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D053769:Nanocapsules / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance
chemical_list: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D053769:Nanocapsules; D006046:Gold; D006108:Graphite