Abstract
We demonstrate that Fe(3)O(4) magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) can greatly enhance the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of metal nanoparticle. The high refractive index and molecular weight of the Fe(3)O(4) MNPs make them a powerful enhancer for plasmonic response to biological binding events, thereby enabling a significant improvement in the sensitivity, reliability, dynamic range, and calibration linearity for LSPR assay of small molecules in a trace amount. Rather than using fluorescence spectroscopy or magnetic resonance imaging, this study marks the first use of the label-free LSPR nanosensor for a disease biomarker in physiological solutions, providing a low cost, clinical-oriented detection. This facile and ultrasensitive nanosensor with an extremely light, robust, and low-cost instrument is attractive for miniaturization on a lab-on-a-chip system to deliver point-of-care medical diagnostics. To further evaluate the practical application of Fe(3)O(4) MNPs in the enhancement of LSPR assay, cardiac troponin I (cTnI) for myocardial infarction diagnosis was used as a model protein to be detected by a gold nanorod (GNR) bioprobe. MNP-captured cTnI molecules resulted in spectral responses up to 6-fold higher than direct cTnI adsorption on the GNR sensor. The detection limit (LOD) was lowered to ca. 30 pM for plasma samples which is 3 orders lower than a comparable study. To the best of our knowledge, this marks the lowest LOD for a real plasma protein detection based on label-free LSPR shift without complicated instrumentation. The observed LSPR sensing enhancement by Fe(3)O(4) MNPs is independent of nonspecific binding.