The recent surge in infectious disease-causing pathogens, resulting in global catastrophe, has merited a pivotal quest toward point-of-care (POC) diagnostics. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is still the top bacterium-based infectious disease-causing pathogen worldwide. In a concerted effort toward simplifying and decentralizing the discriminatory screening of MTB causing pathogens, electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman scattering (EC-SERS) was adopted to create a customized screening tool. The development strategy combined five key factors, including (i) a simplified Tollens’-based chemical synthesis method for bulk supply of silver nanoparticles, (ii) the deliberate surface modification of nanoparticles with carefully selected polyelectrolytes to resemble the conditioning layer usually found on a natural substratum, (iii) uniform SERS-active films formed through simple unprogrammed assembly, (iv) the controlled manipulation of the local electric field through applied voltage using a technique that does not conform to the limitations of classical EC-SERS, and (v) the inherent specificity of the target-specific SERS vibrational signature. The EC-SERS platform was able to discriminatively detect and identify TB-derived mycobacteria, including three clinically relevant MTB strains, TB-H37Rv, TB-HN878, and TB-CDC1551. Moreover, a customized voltage stepping protocol, compatible with either the inclusion of a short preincubation step or with in situ EC-SERS is illustrated. From the obtained SERS vibrational signatures, a band indicating a mode unique to TB-derived/TB-affiliated mycobacteria and thus not observed for other bacterial types used in this study was illustrated. Furthermore, provisional investigation, done as prelude for assessing the potential for translational adaptability of the EC-SERS technique toward POC clinical settings for sputum and urine specimens, was carried out.

中文翻译：

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双方法电化学表面增强拉曼散射检测患者衍生生物样本中的结核分枝杆菌：检测和识别细菌病原体的通用方法的概念证明

最近引起传染病的病原体激增，导致全球灾难，值得对床旁 (POC) 诊断进行关键探索。结核分枝杆菌（MTB）仍然是全球最主要的基于细菌的传染病病原体。为了简化和分散 MTB 致病病原体的歧视性筛查，采用电化学表面增强拉曼散射 (EC-SERS) 来创建定制的筛查工具。该开发策略结合了五个关键因素，包括（i）基于 Tollens 的简化化学合成方法，用于批量供应银纳米粒子，（ii）用精心挑选的聚电解质对纳米粒子进行有意的表面改性，以类似于通常在天然基质，（iii）通过简单的未编程组装形成的均匀 SERS 活性薄膜，(iv) 使用不符合经典 EC-SERS 限制的技术通过施加电压控制局部电场，以及 (v) 目标特异性 SERS 振动特征的固有特异性。EC-SERS 平台能够有区别地检测和识别 TB 衍生的分枝杆菌，包括三种临床相关的 MTB 菌株，TB-H37Rv、TB-HN878 和 TB-CDC1551。此外，定制的电压步进协议，与包含短预孵育步骤或与说明了原位EC-SERS。从获得的 SERS 振动特征中，显示了一条带，该条带表明 TB 衍生/TB 附属分枝杆菌特有的模式，因此在本研究中使用的其他细菌类型未观察到。此外，进行了临时调查，作为评估 EC-SERS 技术对痰和尿液样本的 POC 临床环境的转化适应性潜力的前奏。