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Tiny Probes Dramatically Boost Raman Signals

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Novel gold nanoparticles can goose the signal from Raman reporters, or molecules whose jiggling atoms respond to a probe laser by scattering light at characteristic wavelengths. The discovery could lead to better-targeted drug delivery and deeper bioimaging within tissue.

Called Brights — Bilayered Raman Intense Gold nanostructures with Hidden Tags — the probes developed at Washington University in St. Louis can bind to biomarkers of disease and shine 20 times brighter than their closest competitor for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS).

The shell and core create an electromagnetic hot spot in the gap between them that boosts the reporters’ emission by a factor of nearly a trillion. These molecules intensely scatter light at characteristic wavelengths when probed with laser light.

Nanostructures called Brights seek out biomarkers on cells and then beam brightly to reveal their locations.
Nanostructures called Brights seek out biomarkers on cells and then beam brightly to reveal their locations. In the tiny gap between the gold skin and the gold core of the cleaved Bright (visible in the upper left), there is an electromagnetic hot spot that lights up the reporter molecules trapped there. Courtesy of Naveen Gandra.

This phenomenon, called spontaneous Raman scattering, is by nature very weak. Thirty years ago, scientists accidentally discovered that it is much stronger if the molecules are adsorbed on roughened metallic surfaces; molecules attached to metallic nanoparticles were discovered to shine even brighter than those attached to rough surfaces.

“It’s well-known that if you sandwich Raman reporters between two plasmonic materials, such as gold or silver, you are going to see dramatic Raman enhancement,” said Dr. Srikanth Singamaneni, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at the university’s School of Engineering & Applied Science.

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Singamaneni and postdoctoral research associate Dr. Naveen Gandra tried several different probe designs before settling on Brights. One method was creating intense electromagnetic hot spots by sticking smaller particles onto a larger central particle to create core-satellite assemblies; another was Click chemistry, which made stronger covalent bonds between the satellites and the core.

“We had some success with those assemblies, but in the meantime we had started to wonder if we couldn’t make an electromagnetic hot spot within a single nanoparticle rather than among particles,” Singamaneni said. “It occurred to us that if we put Raman reporters between the core and shell of a single particle could we create an internal hot spot.”

This idea worked like a charm, creating Brights that shine about 1.7 x 1011 brighter than isolated Raman reporters.

The researchers hope to test the Brights in vivo in the lab of Dr. Sam Achilefu, professor of radiology.

Singamaneni has even more in mind for these probes. Since different Raman reporter molecules respond at different wavelengths, it should be possible to design Brights targeted to different biomolecules that also have different Raman reporters and then monitor them all simultaneously with the same light probe, he said.

The Brights could even be combined with a drug container that would be released in the body when it has reached the target tissue, potentially eliminating side effects.

The research appeared in Advanced Materials (doi: 10.1002/adma.201203415).  

For more information, visit: www.wustl.edu

Published: November 2012
Glossary
nano
An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other structures and particles on the nanometer scale. Nano-optics (also referred to as nanophotonics), for example, is the study of how light and light-matter interactions behave on the nanometer scale. See nanophotonics.
photonics
The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...
raman spectroscopy
Raman spectroscopy is a technique used in analytical chemistry and physics to study vibrational, rotational, and other low-frequency modes in a system. Named after the Indian physicist Sir C.V. Raman who discovered the phenomenon in 1928, Raman spectroscopy provides information about molecular vibrations by measuring the inelastic scattering of monochromatic light. Here's a breakdown of the process: Incident light: A monochromatic (single wavelength) light, usually from a laser, is directed...
AmericasBasic SciencebioimagingBiophotonicsBrightsclick chemistrycore-satellite assembliesdrug deliveryelectromagnetic hot spotImaginginfrared laserLasersMetallic nanoparticlesMissourinanonanostructuresNaveen Gandraphotonicsplasmonic materialsprobesRaman reporterRaman spectroscopyResearch & TechnologySERSspontaneous Raman scatteringSrikanth Singamanenisurface enhanced Raman spectroscopyWashington University in St. Louis

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