Metallic Nanostructures as Localized Plasmon Resonance Enhanced Scattering Probes for Multiplex Dark-Field Targeted Imaging of Cancer Cells

In this paper, we report the use of bioconjugated gold nanorods and silver nanoparticles as targeted localized surface plasmon resonance enhanced scattering probes for dark-field multiplex and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging of pancreatic cancer cells. We take advantage of the spectrally widely separated localized plasmon resonance of the gold nanorods and silver nanoparticles which produce wavelength selective plasmon resonance scattering to allow multiplex imaging with high contrast. When the surfaces are functionalized, aqueous dispersions of bioconjugated gold nanorods and silver nanoparticles are prepared. We demonstrate receptor-mediated delivery of bioconjugated gold nanorods and silver nanoparticles simultaneously into pancreatic cancer cells, using multiplexed dark-field microscopy technique. We also show that the bioconjugated metallic nanostructures can be used for high-contrast TEM imaging as well.