Scientist develops hybrid nano-probe that can detect live cancer cells

Along with a team of scientists, Fabien Pinaud, assistant professor of biological sciences, chemistry and physics and astronomy at USC Dornsife, developed a method for amplifying a biochemical signal on the surface of cancer cells.

The new technique binds and assembles gold nanoparticles in living cells using two fragments of a fluorescent protein as “molecular glue.” These tiny probes act as amplifiers, enhancing researchers' ability to detect distinct biomarkers—things like overexpressed or mutated proteins—found in cancer cells. The boosted signal allows the scientists to distinguish cancer cells from healthy cells through the use of Raman spectroscopy—a specialized laser imaging technique.

“Our approach takes advantage of the fact that we have two different nanoparticles which, on their own, are not active, but which become active when they assemble on cancer cells,” said Pinaud, co-author of a related study, published in Nature Communications.

Read more at Phys.org

Image Credit: Matthew Savino

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