Abstract
Nanoscale sensing elements offer promise for single-molecule analyte detection in physically or biologically constrained environments. Single-walled carbon nanotubes have several advantages when used as optical sensors1,2,3, such as photostable near-infrared emission for prolonged detection through biological media2,4,5 and single-molecule sensitivity6. Molecular adsorption can be transduced into an optical signal by perturbing the electronic structure of the nanotubes7. Here, we show that a pair of single-walled nanotubes provides at least four modes that can be modulated to uniquely fingerprint agents by the degree to which they alter either the emission band intensity or wavelength. We validate this identification method in vitro by demonstrating the detection of six genotoxic analytes, including chemotherapeutic drugs and reactive oxygen species, which are spectroscopically differentiated into four distinct classes, and also demonstrate single-molecule sensitivity in detecting hydrogen peroxide. Finally, we detect and identify these analytes in real time within live 3T3 cells, demonstrating multiplexed optical detection from a nanoscale biosensor and the first label-free tool to optically discriminate between genotoxins.
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Acknowledgements
M.S.S is grateful for a Beckman Young Investigator Award and a National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Award. This work was funded under the NSF Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team on single molecule detection in living cells using carbon nanotube optical probes. The authors thank S. McMasters (University of Illinois) for cell culture assistance, and C. Fantini, A. Jain, A. Moll and J. Ossyra for experimental assistance. We also thank S. Tannenbaum, G. Wogan and L. Trudel and acknowledge a seed grant from the Center for Environmental Health Sciences at MIT. Partial support was provided by the National Cancer Institute (U54-CA119342-01) to the Siteman Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, through the University of Illinois Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology.
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D.H. and M.S. originated the concept for the paper and the experimental validation. D.H., H.J., B.M., D.P., B.M., T.-K.Y., P.J. and C.H. all assisted in the experiments. D.H., B.M., D.P., B.M., T.-K.Y., P.J. and C.H. performed the data analysis. S.S., T.H., C.H. and P.J. contributed materials/specific analysis tools and provided useful discussions. D.H. and M.S. co-wrote the paper with input from S.S.
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Heller, D., Jin, H., Martinez, B. et al. Multimodal optical sensing and analyte specificity using single-walled carbon nanotubes. Nature Nanotech 4, 114–120 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2008.369
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2008.369
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