Ag NC and Ag NP/PorC Film-Based Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy-Type Immunoassay for Ultrasensitive Prostate-Specific Antigen Detection

Kerong Wu; Kui Lai; Junfeng Chen; Jie Yao; Shuwen Zeng; Tao Jiang; Hongjie Si; Chenjie Gu; Junhui Jiang

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c00230

Ag NC and Ag NP/PorC Film-Based Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy-Type Immunoassay for Ultrasensitive Prostate-Specific Antigen Detection

ACS Omega. 2023 May 15;8(21):18523-18529. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c00230. eCollection 2023 May 30.

Authors

Kerong Wu^{1

2}, Kui Lai^{1

3}, Junfeng Chen¹, Jie Yao¹, Shuwen Zeng⁴, Tao Jiang³, Hongjie Si⁵, Chenjie Gu^{1

3}, Junhui Jiang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315010, China.
² Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine for Atherosclerotic Diseases of Zhejiang Province, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315010, China.
³ The Research Institute of Advanced Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, China.
⁴ XLIM Research Institute, CNRS/University of Limoges, Avenue Albert Thomas, 87060 Limoges, France.
⁵ Department of Urology, Traditional Chinese Medical Hospital of Zhuji, Zhuji, Zhejiang 311899, China.

Abstract

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a spectral detection technology with high sensitivity and detectivity and can be used to detect the fingerprint information of the molecules with ultralow concentration. Herein, a kind of immunostructure constructed by Ag nanoparticle/porous carbon (Ag NP/PorC) films as the immunosubstrate and Ag NCs as the immunoprobes was presented for ultralow level prostate-specific antigen (PSA) detection. Experimentally, the Ag NP/PorC film was first prepared with a facile method by carbonizing the gelatin-AgNO₃ film in air, and Ag NCs were synthesized by the hydrothermal method. Then, the Ag NP/PorC film was modified by PSA antibodies as the substrate, while Ag NCs were decorated by R6G and PSA antibodies for probes. The sandwiched SERS detection embodiment was constructed by the immunoreaction between the PSA and PSA antibody predecorated on the substrate and probes. Our results show that the proposed SERS-type immunoassay is highly sensitive and selective to a wide range of PSA concentrations from 10^-5 to 10^-12 g/mL. Thereafter, it was also implemented to detect the PSA level in human serum, and the results successfully reproduce the PSA levels as those measured by the chemiluminescence method with a recovery rate above 90%. All in all, this SERS-type immunoassay provides a promising method for the early diagnosis of prostate cancer.