SERS Nanoprobe for the Detection of Reactive Oxygen Speciesin Cells Produced by Electrostimulus br

Electrostimulus???ES???is an important therapeutic method for diseases caused by abnormal intracellularelectrical activity.Also???ES can induce apoptosis of cells???which is a potential tumor treatment method.At present???there are no relevant studies on the intracellular reactive oxygen species???ROS???levels produced in the process of ES???and what effects will be brought by the simultaneous implementation of conventional antioxidant inhibitor drugs andES therapy.In this study???a kind of gold/silver core-shell nanorod-based surface-enhanced Raman???SERS???-active probe with good biocompatibility was designed for the detection of intracellular ROS generated during ES.Thesensing mechanism realized the quantitative analysis of ROS based on the principle that ROS could etch the silvershell???leading to a decrease of the SERS signal of the SERS probe.The probe was co-incubated with cells and wasinternalized into cells.The cells were then electrically stimulated for different periods of time.Finally???the signal ofthe SERS probe was detected in vivo.The experimental results show that the SERS signal weakens with the extensionof ES time???indicating that the amount of ROS produced in cells increases significantly.In addition???two antioxida???tion inhibitors???ascorbic acid???AA???and glutathione???GSH??????were studied when combined with ES.It was observedthat they could eliminate reactive oxygen species???ROS???produced by electrical stimulation.This study developed anew method for intracellular ROS detection and suggests a combination of drugs for abnormal oxidative stress andtumor therapy.Also???ES can induce apoptosis of cells???which is a potential tumor treatment method