Micron-sized surface enhanced Raman scattering reporter/fluorescence probe encoded colloidal microspheres for...

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Spectroscopy
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Developing advanced optical probes is crucial for sensitive biomolecule detection.
• Integrating multiple spectroscopic techniques on a single platform presents challenges due to signal interference.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create a novel dual-mode optical probe combining SERS and fluorescence for enhanced multiplex bioassays.
• To demonstrate the sensitive detection of DNA using these probes.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of uniform melamine resin/Ag nanoparticles (MRM/Ag-NPs) composite microspheres.
• Layered immobilization of SERS reporters and fluorescent probes onto MRM/Ag-NPs.
• Development of a dual-encoding strategy for SERS and fluorescence signals on single microspheres.
• Application in DNA detection using ssDNA-functionalized magnetic beads.

Main Results:

• Successful integration of SERS and fluorescence signals on a single microsphere platform.
• Separable optical signals from the two spectroscopic methods were achieved.
• Demonstrated sensitive DNA detection with excellent encoding and decoding results.
• The dual-encoding strategy significantly increased the number of available independent codes.

Conclusions:

• The developed SERS-fluorescence encoded microsphere (SFEM) system offers a powerful platform for sensitive and multiplexed detection.
• The strategy overcomes the challenge of signal interference between SERS and fluorescence.
• The SFEM system shows broad applicability for detecting various biomolecules in bioassays.