Nanoconjugates of Ag/Au/Carbon Nanotube for Alkyne-Meditated Ratiometric SERS Imaging of Hypoxia in Hepatic Ischemia

We report a ratiometric surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoprobe for imaging hypoxic living cells or tissues, using azo-alkynes assembled on a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) surface-functionalized with Ag/Au alloy nanoparticles (SWCNT/Ag/AuNPs). Under a hypoxic condition, azobenzene derivatives preassembled on the surface of the nanostructures are reduced stepwise by various reductases and eventually removed from the surface of the SWCNT/Ag/AuNPs, resulting in the loss of characteristic alkyne Raman bands at 2207 cm –1 . Using 2D-band of SWCNTs at 2578 cm –1 as the internal standard, we are able to determine the hypoxia level based on the ratio of two peak intensities ( I 2578 / I 2207 ) as demonstrated by the successful detection in different cell lines and rat liver tissue samples derived from hepatic ischemia surgery. By combining the outstanding anti-interference property of alkynes as SERS reporters and the distinct Raman responses of alkynes and SWCNTs in complex systems, this novel ratiometric SERS strategy holds promise in becoming a very useful tool for in vitro and in vivo monitoring of hypoxia in research and clinical settings.