Gold nanoisland substrates for SERS characterization of cultured cells

We demonstrate a simple approach for fabricating cell-compatible SERS substrates, using repeated gold deposition and thermal annealing. The substrates exhibit SERS enhancement up to six orders of magnitude and high uniformity. We have carried out Raman imaging of fixed mesenchymal stromal cells cultured directly on the substrates. Results of viability assays confirm that the substrates are highly biocompatible and Raman imaging confirms that cell attachment to the substrates is sufficient to realize significant SERS enhancement of cellular components. Using the SERS substrates as an in vitro sensing platform allowed us to identify multiple characteristic molecular fingerprints of the cells, providing a promising avenue towards non-invasive chemical characterization of biological samples.