Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2019

Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E40

Gold nanoisland arrays as SERS substrates for non-invasive detection of characteristic cellular fingerprints

Höfundar / Authors: Adrianna Milewska (1,2,3), Vesna Zivanovic (4), Virginia Merk (4), Unnar B. Arnalds (5), Olafur E. Sigurjonsson (2,6), Janina Kneipp (4), Kristjan Leosson (1,5)

Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. Innovation Center Iceland, 2. Blood Bank, Landspitali University Hospital, 3. University of Iceland, School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, 4. Humboldt University, 5. Science Institute, University of Iceland, 6. Reykjavik University, School of Science and Engineering

Kynnir / Presenter: Adrianna Milewska

The detection and monitoring of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in order to understand the process of cellular popragation and their interaction with external environment is very important for tissue engineering. Available tools for studying cells include biological assays, immunofluorescence staining and PCR, which are mostly effective and relevant, however, it should be highlited that all the above techniques require use of specific molecular markers and enable the examination of only a limited number of components. A new approach is Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) – highly sensitive method that allows for characterization of various compounds through their capability to generate specific molecular fingerprint signals. In SERS, the Raman signals of molecules adsorbed on specially prepared metallic nanostructures, usually made of gold or silver, are hugely enhanced. This great sensitivity and label-free analysis paves a way towards non-invasive cell studies. In this work, we present an easy approach of cell-compatible SERS substrates fabrication by repeated gold deposition and thermal annealing, resulting in high enhancement and homogeneous distribution of ´hot spots´. In order to demonstrate their applicability as in vitro sensing platforms, we cultured MSCs and recorded spectra of characteristic cellular fingerprints. The results suggest that our SERS substrates have a potential to become an alternative for studying MSCs in a non-destructive and label-free way.