Molecular Aptamer Beacon-based SERS biosensor for the detection of nucleic acids

¹ Dept. of Precision Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy
² Inst. of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems “Eduardo Caianiello”, Unit of Naples, CNR, 80131 Naples, Italy
³ Inst. of Experimental Endocrinology and Oncology “G. Salvatore”-Second Unit, CNR, 80131 Naples, Italy
⁴ Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center, 34956, Istanbul, Turkey
⁵ Inst. of Applied Physics “Nello Carrara” (IFAC), (CNR), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy

^* Corresponding author: sara.martino@unicampania.it

Published online: 31 October 2024

Abstract

Nucleic acids are essential biomolecules for the functioning of cells. In past years, nucleic acids have been assessing their role in prognostics and diagnostics. The progress of nanotechnology has allowed the fabrication of various type of nanostructured biosensors able to detect them with high sensitivity and specificity. Among the available sensing mechanisms, the sensor technology based on Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) is frequently preferred for identifying nucleic acids. In these sensors, natural or synthetic oligonucleotide sequences, acting as probes to hybridize the target molecules, are immobilized on a plasmonic sensing platform. In particular, aptamers, short DNA/RNA sequences, are emerging as new recognition elements for their chemical stability and specificity. Here, we focus on the combination of a specific type of aptamer, a molecular aptamer beacon, and nanostructured SERS biosensors for a sensitive detection of nucleic acids.