Gold nanoisland substrates for SERS characterization of cultured cells

Adrianna Milewska; Vesna Zivanovic; Virginia Merk; Unnar B Arnalds; Ólafur E Sigurjónsson; Janina Kneipp; Kristjan Leosson

doi:10.1364/BOE.10.006172

Gold nanoisland substrates for SERS characterization of cultured cells

Biomed Opt Express. 2019 Nov 8;10(12):6172-6188. doi: 10.1364/BOE.10.006172. eCollection 2019 Dec 1.

Authors

Adrianna Milewska^{1

2

3}, Vesna Zivanovic⁴, Virginia Merk⁴, Unnar B Arnalds⁵, Ólafur E Sigurjónsson^{2

6}, Janina Kneipp⁴, Kristjan Leosson^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Innovation Center Iceland, Árleynir 2-8, 112 Reykjavík, Iceland.
² The Blood Bank, Landspitali University Hospital, Snorrabraut 60, 105 Reykjavík, Iceland.
³ University of Iceland, School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sæmundargötu 2, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland.
⁴ Humboldt University, Brook-Taylor-Str. 2, 12489, Berlin, Germany.
⁵ Science Institute, University of Iceland, Dunhaga 3, 107 Reykjavík, Iceland.
⁶ Reykjavik University, School of Science and Engineering, Menntavegur 1, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland.

Abstract

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.