Gold nanoparticles as SERS-substrates for MTT assay

Abstract

Several variants of gold nanoparticles were proposed for the detection of formazan formed because of enzymatic reduction of the MTT reagent by E. coli enzymes. It is shown that gold nanostars coated with a micellar stabilizer are the most promising SERS-substrate for the detection of formazan in biological mixtures, reducing the required titer of bacteria by at least an order of magnitude.