This article presents a unique 3D biocompatible Aluminum-based quantum structure (QS) for in vitro cancer detection using Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS). The Al-based QSs fabricated using ultrashort pulsed laser are of two distinct surface characters, wrinkled and smooth spherical. The limit of detection for chemical sensing of Crystal Violet and Rhodamine 6G by the Al-QS was driven up to single molecule sensing (femtomolar concentration). Biological sensing of cysteine, a disease biomarker and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), a cancer biomarker was also tested by the Al-QS. The ability of in vitro cell detection using Al-QS was analyzed with three cell lines, mammalian fibroblast and pancreatic and lung cancer cells. The Al-QS were up taken by the cells through label-free self-internalization and were sensed by SERS. Further assay was performed to differentiate cancerous and non-cancerous cells by measuring lipid and protein peak intensity within the cells. The result of this research indicated that SERS based Al-QS could be a suitable candidate for the early diagnosis of cancer.

中文翻译：

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基于皱纹的金属量子传感器，用于体外癌症诊断。

本文介绍了一种独特的3D生物相容性铝基量子结构（QS），用于使用表面增强拉曼散射（SERS）进行体外癌症检测。使用超短脉冲激光制造的铝基QS具有两个不同的表面特征，即起皱的和光滑的球形。Al-QS对紫罗兰色和若丹明6G的化学感测检测极限被提高到单分子感测（飞摩尔浓度）。Al-QS还测试了半胱氨酸（一种疾病生物标志物）和癌胚抗原（CEA）（一种癌症生物标志物）的生物传感。使用三种细胞系（哺乳动物成纤维细胞，胰腺和肺癌细胞）分析了使用Al-QS进行体外细胞检测的能力。Al-QS被细胞通过无标记的自我内在化吸收，并被SERS感知。通过测量细胞内的脂质和蛋白质峰强度，进行了进一步的测定以区分癌细胞和非癌细胞。这项研究的结果表明，基于SERS的Al-QS可能是癌症早期诊断的合适候选者。