Label-free saliva screening platform using M13 bacteriophage-based 3D plasmonic structures for MRONJ diagnosis

You Hwan Kim1,2, Jin-Ju Kwon3, Minsu Jang1

  • 1Department of Nano Fusion Technology, Pusan National University, Busan, 46241, Republic of Korea.

Scientific Reports
|February 23, 2026
PubMed

Insights

A novel saliva test using M13 bacteriophage and Raman spectroscopy shows promise for early detection of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ). This non-invasive approach could improve diagnosis for patients on antiresorptive or antiangiogenic therapies.

Area of Science:

  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Nanotechnology
  • Oral Medicine

Background:

  • Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is a serious complication of antiresorptive/antiangiogenic drugs.
  • Current diagnostic methods struggle with early detection of small lesions (<10 mm).
  • Non-invasive diagnostic tools are needed for timely MRONJ intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a label-free saliva screening method for MRONJ diagnosis.
  • To utilize M13 bacteriophage-based plasmonic structures for enhanced Raman spectroscopy.
  • To assess the diagnostic performance of the proposed saliva-based approach.

Main Methods:

  • Fabrication of a 3D plasmonic structure using M13 bacteriophage and gold nanoparticles.
  • Raman spectroscopy analysis of saliva metabolites from MRONJ patients and controls.
  • Data preprocessing including outlier filtering and classification using a multi-layer perceptron model.

Main Results:

  • The M13 bacteriophage structure enhanced Raman signal intensity by increasing hotspot density.
  • The optimized model achieved 84.6% specificity and 100.0% sensitivity.
  • An area under the curve (AUC) of 0.92 indicated high diagnostic accuracy.

Conclusions:

  • A saliva-based, non-invasive screening strategy for MRONJ is feasible.
  • This approach demonstrates potential for early MRONJ detection.
  • Further studies with larger datasets are warranted to validate and expand diagnostic applications.