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Updated: Sep 2, 2025
Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Detection of Biomolecules Using EBL Fabricated Nanostructured Substrates
Published on: March 20, 2015
SERS-based biosensor with Raman-active external responsive element for rapid determination of adenosine monophosphate
Elena Zavyalova1, Daria Tikhonova2, Gleb Zhdanov2
1Chemistry Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1-3, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation; Belozersky Research Institute of Physical Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1-40, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation.
Researchers developed a novel biosensor for detecting adenosine monophosphate (AMP) using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). This aptasensor achieves high sensitivity and a wide dynamic range for measuring AMP levels in biological samples.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Analytical Chemistry
- Biosensor Technology
Background:
- Phosphorylated adenosine derivatives, like adenosine monophosphate (AMP), are crucial for cellular energy, biosynthesis, and protein regulation.
- Measuring these molecules offers insights into cellular signaling and microbial presence.
- Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a sensitive optical technique for detecting substances at low concentrations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a highly sensitive biosensor for adenosine monophosphate (AMP) detection.
- To utilize surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) combined with aptamers and a novel Raman-active dye.
- To investigate the specific binding mechanism between an AMP aptamer and a novel dye for enhanced SERS signal.
Main Methods:
- Development of a SERS-based biosensor employing a DNA aptamer specific for AMP.
- Utilized a novel Raman-active dye, Black Hole Quencher-2 derivative BHQ-2-(NH2)2, for signal transduction.
- Characterized the aptamer-dye interaction using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance, molecular docking, and biolayer interferometry.
Main Results:
- The novel dye BHQ-2-(NH2)2 demonstrated SERS intensity proportional to molecular charge, indicating electrostatic interactions with silver nanoparticles.
- BHQ-2-(NH2)2 specifically binds to the DNA aptamer-AMP complex with a dissociation constant (KD) of 26 nM.
- The developed SERS aptasensor achieved a low limit of detection of 3.4 nM AMP and a broad dynamic range (3.4 nM to 200 μM).
Conclusions:
- A novel SERS-based aptasensor for AMP detection was successfully designed and validated.
- The aptasensor leverages analyte-dependent conformational changes in the aptamer to modulate the SERS signal of the dye.
- This approach offers a new strategy for creating biosensors using DNA-interacting ligands as external responsive elements for analyte detection.
