SERS-ELISA determination of human carboxylesterase 1 using metal-organic framework doped with gold nanoparticles as SERS substrate

By in situ synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) within the acid-etched (AE) MIL-101 (Cr) framework, AE-MIL-101 (Cr) nanocomposites embedded with AuNPs (AuNP/AE-MIL-101 (Cr)) were prepared as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate. AuNPs are uniformly distributed and stabilized inside the metal-organic framework (MOF), thus forming more SERS hotspots. The SERS performance of AuNP/AE-MIL-101 (Cr) was evaluated using 4-mercaptophenylboronic acid (4-MPBA), 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA), benzidine, and rhodamine 6G (R6G). The SERS substrate displays satisfying stability with very low background signal. When benzidine is used as the Raman reporter, the limit of detection (LOD) can reach 6.7 × 10−13 mol·L−1, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) of the intra- and inter-batch repetitive tests is less than 5.2%. On this basis, we developed a method for the detection of human carboxylesterase 1 (hCE 1) in human serum using AuNP/AE-MIL-101 (Cr) nanocomposite as SERS substrate and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) colorimetric substrate as SERS marker. This method was used to determine hCE 1 in clinical serum samples without complicated sample pretreatment, and the detection results were consistent with the data determined by ELISA. In the concentration range 0.1–120 ng·mL−1, the SERS signal intensity of benzidine at 1609 cm−1 gradually decreases with the increase of hCE 1 concentration (R2 = 0.9948). The average recoveries of hCE 1 in human serum are in the range 84 to 108%, with RSDs lower than 7.7%.