Iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticles and uses thereof

1. A method of detecting a circulating tumor cell (CTC) in a sample, the method comprising:

contacting the sample with a Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle conjugated to a specific binding pair capable of specifically binding with the CTC; and

detecting the presence of the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle bound to the CTC by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), thereby detecting the CTC, wherein the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle comprises a gold shell onto a silver adsorbed iron-oxide nanoparticle core and said Raman reporter is coated onto the gold shell, and wherein said Raman reporter comprises organic dye with delocalized electrons,

wherein the sample comprises whole blood,

wherein the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle is anisotropic such that the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle is magnetic-optical hybrid, and the circulating tumor cell is detected and captured by the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle conjugated to the specific binding partner capable of specifically binding with the CTC, and

wherein a limit of detection (LOD) of the CTC is less than 2 cells/ml whole blood.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle is nanooval.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the specific binding pair is an antibody capable of specifically binding the CTC.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method includes the step of magnetically separating the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle bound to the CTC from the sample.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of detecting comprises detecting the presence of the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle in an integrated flow system, thereby capturing and detecting the CTC.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the limit of detection (LOD) is less than 1 cell/ml whole blood.

7. A method of isolating a circulating tumor cell (CTC) from a blood sample, the method comprising:

mixing the blood sample with a Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle conjugated to a specific binding pair capable of specifically binding with the CTC present in the sample, to provide a mixed sample, loading the mixed sample into a capillary;

separating the CTC bound to the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle; and

detecting the presence of the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle bound to the CTC by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), wherein the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle comprises a gold shell onto a silver adsorbed iron-oxide nanoparticle core and said Raman reporter is coated onto the gold shell, and wherein said Raman reporter comprises organic dye with delocalized electrons;

wherein the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle is anisotropic such that the iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle is magnetic-optical hybrid, and the circulating tumor cell in the blood is captured by the iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle conjugated to the specific binding partner capable of specifically binding with the CTC, and

wherein a limit of detection (LOD) of the CTC is less than 2 cells/ml whole blood.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the CTC is separated in a flow system or in a microfluidic device comprising externally attached magnet.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the CTC is separated from a region of the capillary where the present of the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle bound to the CTC is detected.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle is detected by a portable Raman spectrometer.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the Raman reporter is QSY21.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle is detected by a portable Raman spectrometer.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the Raman reporter is QSY21.

14. A method of isolating and detecting a circulating tumor cell (CTC) in a sample, the method comprising:

contacting the sample with a Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle conjugated to a specific binding pair capable of specifically binding with the CTC, wherein the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle comprises a gold shell onto a silver adsorbed iron-oxide nanoparticle core and said Raman reporter is coated onto the gold shell, and wherein said Raman reporter comprises organic dye with delocalized electrons;

isolating the CTC bound with the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticles in a flow system or in a microfluidic device comprising an externally attached permanent magnet,

detecting the isolated CTCs bound with the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticles by a Raman spectrometer in the flow system or a Raman microscope in the microfluidic device based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS),

wherein the sample comprises whole blood,

wherein the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle is anisotropic such that CTC attached with the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle particle can be dually isolated with magnetic isolation and detected with SERS based of the magnetic-optical core-shell structure and the anisotropic property,

wherein a limit of detection (LOD) of the CTC is less than 2 cells/ml whole blood.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

profiling surface protein expressions on CTCs at single cell resolution by the Raman microscope.