Total internal reflection plasmonic scattering-based fluorescence-free nanoimmunosensor probe for ultra-sensitive detection of cancer antigen 125

Highly sensitive detection of cancer antigen 125 (CA125) on nanoarray chips was carried out by means of total internal reflection (TIR) microscopy based on fluorescent labeling (i.e., TIR fluorescence microscopy TIRFM) and fluorescent-free labeling (TIR scattering microscopy; TIRSM). TIR plasmonic scattering of nanoparticles (NPs) as a fluorescence-free immunosensor probe potentially superior to fluorescent probes was applied to quantify CA125 on a nanoarray chip. NP-labeled CA125 (NP-CA125) was immunoreacted on chips, and the TIR scattering illumination of NP-CA125 allowed quantitative TIRSM measurement of wavelength-dependent plasmonic scattering detection of CA125. In addition, Alexafluor 488-labeled CA125 was immunoreacted on the same chips for comparison of detection sensitivity. TIRSM showed less photobleaching and higher photostability and detection sensitivity than TIRFM, as well as a lower limit of detection (LOD), 0.0018 U/mL. This LOD was ~144 times lower than that of previously reported detection methods. These results demonstrated that the wavelength-dependent TIR plasmon NPs can be used as an enhanced nanoimmunosensor probe, providing ultra-sensitive fluorescence-free biomolecule detection to enable earliest-stage disease diagnosis.