1. Robust Encapsulation of Biocompatible Gold Nanosphere Assemblies for Bioimaging via Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering
- Author
-
Marius Schumacher, Dorleta Jimenez de Aberasturi, Jan‐Philip Merkl, Leonardo Scarabelli, Elisa Lenzi, Malou Henriksen‐Lacey, Luis M. Liz‐Marzán, Horst Weller, Chemical Industry Association (Germany), European Research Council, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España), Liz Marzán, Luis M., Publica, Verband der Chemischen Industrie, and Liz Marzán, Luis M. [0000-0002-6647-1353]
- Subjects
Gold nanoparticles ,Encapsulation ,Polymer micelles ,Surface-enhanced Raman scattering ,Raman reporters ,Self-assembly ,Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials - Abstract
Controlled assembly of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) into clusters is a promising avenue for the development of sensitive bioimaging and diagnostic tools based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). However, several challenges, such as biocompatibility or colloidal and structural stability in biological environments, remain before AuNPs can be used as a tool for in vivo bioimaging. A versatile strategy for the preparation of colloidally stable and biocompatible AuNP clusters (AuNPCs) is introduced with high SERS signals, which are used as SERS contrast bioimaging agents (SERS tags). By tuning the ligand ratio of Raman reporter molecules to stabilizing polymer on the surface of each AuNP, aggregation can be carefully controlled. The resulting AuNPCs exhibit redshifted surface plasmon resonances in the near-infrared (NIR) region, as well as distinct electromagnetic hotspots that give rise to SERS analytical enhancement factors above 104, compared to non-clustered spherical AuNPs. Thanks to the protective polymer shell, high levels of cellular uptake with low cytotoxicity are observed, allowing 3D SERS mapping of cells with sufficiently high spatial resolution to detect AuNPCs within intracellular organelles., J.P.M. was financed by Verband der Chemischen Industrie e.V. (VCI). The authors thank Dr. Andreas Kornowski, Stefan Werner and Svenja Patjens (Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Hamburg) for their support. Financial support is acknowledged from the European Research Council (ERC Advanced Grant 787510, 4DbioSERS), the Spanish State Research Agency (Grant no. PID2019-108854RA-I00) and Maria de Maeztu Units of Excellence Program MDM-2017-0720)., With funding from the Spanish government through the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000917-S).
- Published
- 2022