Detection of CEA in human serum using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy coupled with antibody-modified Au and γ-Fe2O3@Au nanoparticles

• A rapid and simple SERS method to detect CEA was developed with high selectivity.
• The method built was successfully applied to the determination of CEA in healthy and patients’ serum
• The detection results of CEA in real samples by the present method were in accordance with those by ECLI.

In this present work, a rapid and simple method to detect carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was developed by using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) coupled with antibody-modified Au and γ-Fe2O3@Au nanoparticles. First, Au@Raman reporter and γ-Fe2O3@Au were prepared, and then modified with CEA antibody. When CEA was present, the immuno-Au@Raman reporter and immuno-γ-Fe2O3@Au formed a complex through antibody-antigen-antibody interaction. The selective and sensitive detection of CEA could be achieved by SERS after magnetic separation. Under the optimal conditions, a linear relationship was observed between the Raman peak intensity and the concentration of CEA in the range of 1–50 ng mL−1 with an excellent correlation coefficient of 0.9942. The limit of detection based on two times ratio of signal to noise was 0.1 ng/mL. The recoveries of CEA standard solution spiked with human serum samples were in the range of 88.5–105.9% with the relative standard deviations less than 17.4%. The method built was applied to the detection of CEA in human serum, and the relative deviations of the analysis results between the present method and electrochemiluminescence immunoassay were all less than 16.6%. The proposed method is practical and has a potential for clinic test of CEA.

Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide