Intracellular surface-enhanced Raman scattering probe based on gold nanorods functionalized with mercaptohexadecanoic acid with reduced cytotoxicity.

A surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) probe for intracellular detection was demonstrated by utilizing gold nanorods (GNRs) coated with p-aminothiophenol as the Raman reporters. In this probe, to reduce the cytotoxicity of GNRs, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) molecules adsorbed on the surfaces of GNRs as ligands were replaced by mercaptohexadecanoic acid via a "round-trip" phase change method. Such a ligand exchange can reduce the toxicity of the probe compared to the original CTAB-stabilized GNRs, which were confirmed by both 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and bright field view of HeLa cells. Meanwhile, the transmission electron microscopy images indicated that there is no significant morphologic change of GNRs before and after the ligand exchange. Moreover, its SERS performance was adequately retained after the incorporation of the probe into living HeLa cells. This new type of SERS probe is expected to have great potential in intracellular imaging or sensing applications.