Toward Cancer Diagnostics of the Tumor Suppressor p53 by Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy.

Anna Rita Bizzarri, Salvatore Cannistraro

Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) 2020 Dec 14

filter terms:

The tumor suppressor p53 protein plays a crucial role in many biological processes. The presence of abnormal concentrations of wild-type p53, or some of its mutants, can be indicative of a pathological cancer state. p53 represents therefore a valuable biomarker for tumor screening approaches and development of suitable biosensors for its detection deserves a high interest in early diagnostics. Here, we revisit our experimental approaches, combining Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) and nanotechnological materials, for ultrasensitive detection of wild-type and mutated p53, in the perspective to develop biosensors to be used in clinical diagnostics. The Raman marker is provided by a small molecule (4-ATP) acting as a bridge between gold nanoparticles (NPs) and a protein biomolecule. The Azurin copper protein and specific antibodies of p53 were used as a capture element for p53 (wild-type and its mutants). The developed approaches allowed us to reach a detection level of p53 down to 10-17 M in both buffer and serum. The implementation of the method in a biosensor device, together with some possible developments are discussed.

Citation

Anna Rita Bizzarri, Salvatore Cannistraro. Toward Cancer Diagnostics of the Tumor Suppressor p53 by Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy. Sensors (Basel, Switzerland). 2020 Dec 14;20(24)