A label-free biosensor based on silver nanoparticles array for clinical detection of serum p53 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Wei Zhou¹, Yingyi Ma¹, Huan Yang³, Yi Ding^1,2, Xiangang Luo^3
1State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases (Sichuan University), ²West China College of Stromatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; ³State Key Lab of Optical Technologies for Microfabrication, Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Science, Chengdu, China

Abstract: By using triangular silver (Ag) nanoparticle array, a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) nanosensor was fabricated and shown to sense serum p53 protein in vitro, which is involved in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The nanosensor consists of a triangular Ag nanoparticles array with single particle dimension of 120 nm in-plane width and 45 nm out-of-plane height. When examined using LSPR nanobiosensor, the results indicated significant difference in LSPR shifts (Δλ_max) between HNSCC patient and control. Although there is need for precise quantification and large-scale prospective, this report shows that the LSPR nanobiosensor provides a promising platform with attractive advantages for serological diagnosis or molecular diagnosis in tumor, such as HNSCC. This is the first clinical application of the LSPR nanosensor in HNSCC.

Keywords: localized surface plasmon resonance, p53 protein, biosensor, oral squamous-cell carcinoma