Super-Long SERS Active Single Silver Nanowires for Molecular Imaging in 2D and 3D Cell Culture Models
Xiao-Tong Pan,
Xuan-Ye Yang,
Tian-Qi Mao,
Kang Liu,
Zao-Zao Chen,
Li-Na Ji,
De-Chen Jiang,
Kang Wang,
Zhong-Ze Gu,
Xing-Hua Xia
Affiliations
Xiao-Tong Pan
State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Xuan-Ye Yang
Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry of the Ministry of Education (MOE), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Tian-Qi Mao
State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Kang Liu
State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Zao-Zao Chen
State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Li-Na Ji
State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
De-Chen Jiang
State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Kang Wang
State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Zhong-Ze Gu
State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Xing-Hua Xia
State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Establishing a systematic molecular information analysis strategy for cell culture models is of great significance for drug development and tissue engineering technologies. Here, we fabricated single silver nanowires with high surface-enhanced Raman scattering activity to extract SERS spectra in situ from two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models. The silver nanowires were super long, flexible and thin enough to penetrate through multiple cells. A single silver nanowire was used in combination with a four-dimensional microcontroller as a cell endoscope for spectrally analyzing the components in cell culture models. Then, we adopted a machine learning algorithm to analyze the obtained spectra. Our results show that the abundance of proteins differs significantly between the 2D and 3D models, and that nucleic acid-rich and protein-rich regions can be distinguished with satisfactory accuracy.
