Issue 20, 2022

A TiO2-based bioprobe enabling excellent SERS activity in the detection of diverse circulating tumor cells

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can be the seeds of tumor metastasis and are closely linked to cancer-related death. Fast and effective detection of CTCs is important for the early diagnosis of cancer and the evaluation of micrometastasis. However, the extreme rarity and heterogeneity of CTCs in peripheral blood make sensitive detection of CTCs a big challenge. In this paper, a TiO2-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) bioprobe is reported for the first time with outstanding ultrasensitive specificity, excellent stability of the signal, and good biocompatibility for the detection of CTCs. The TiO2 NPs were encoded with alizarin red (AR) and functionalized with reduced bovine serum protein (rBSA) and folic acid (FA). The limit of detection (LOD) for 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) and AR molecules adsorbed on the TiO2 SERS substrate is 5 × 10−7 M. The designed TiO2-based SERS bioprobe can be effectively utilized in detecting four diverse types of cancer cells in rabbit blood, which shows good sensitivity of the SERS detection technology. Finally, precise targeting of CTCs based on the SERS bioprobe with the function of fluorescence imaging is also confirmed by the fluorescence colouration test. This work offers a novel strategy for CTC detection and the development of non-noble metal semiconductor-based SERS platforms for tumor diagnosis.

Graphical abstract: A TiO2-based bioprobe enabling excellent SERS activity in the detection of diverse circulating tumor cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 Mar 2022
Accepted
11 Apr 2022
First published
11 Apr 2022

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2022,10, 3808-3816

A TiO2-based bioprobe enabling excellent SERS activity in the detection of diverse circulating tumor cells

Y. Xu, J. Lin, X. Wu, X. Xu, D. Zhang, Y. Xie, T. Pan, Y. He, A. Wu and G. Shao, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2022, 10, 3808 DOI: 10.1039/D2TB00464J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements