Asterias forbesi-Inspired SERS Substrates for Wide-Range Detection of Uric Acid

• Published in: Biosensors (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 1; p. 8
• Main Authors: Park, Hyunjun, Chai, Kyunghwan, Kim, Woochang, Park, Joohyung, Lee, Wonseok, Park, Jinsung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.01.2024
• Subjects: Animals; Asterias; Asterias forbesi; bioinspired; Dopamine; Gold; gold nanoparticles; Kidneys; Lasers; Metabolites; Metal Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles; Raman spectroscopy; Reproducibility; Reproducibility of Results; Scanning electron microscopy; Silver; Simulation; Spectrum analysis; Spectrum Analysis, Raman; Substrates; surface-enhanced Raman scattering; Uric Acid; Urine; wide-range detection; bioinspired; surface-enhanced Raman scattering; gold nanoparticles; uric acid; wide-range detection
• ISSN: 2079-6374; 2079-6374
• DOI: 10.3390/bios14010008

Uric acid (UA), the final metabolite of purine, is primarily excreted through urine to maintain an appropriate concentration in the bloodstream. However, any malfunction in this process can lead to complications due to either deficiency or excess amount of UA. Hence, the development of a sensor platform with a wide-range detection is crucial. To realize this, we fabricated a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrate inspired by a type of starfish with numerous protrusions, Asterias forbesi. The Asterias forbesi-inspired SERS (AF-SERS) substrate utilized an Au@Ag nanostructure and gold nanoparticles to mimic the leg and protrusion morphology of the starfish. This substrate exhibited excellent Raman performance due to numerous hotspots, demonstrating outstanding stability, reproducibility, and repeatability. In laboratory settings, we successfully detected UA down to a concentration of 1.16 nM (limit of detection) and demonstrated selectivity against various metabolites. In the experiments designed for real-world application, the AF-SERS substrate detected a broad range of UA concentrations, covering deficiencies and excesses, in both serum and urine samples. These results underscore the potential of the developed AF-SERS substrate as a practical detection platform for UA in real-world applications.