Plasmonic Gold Nanorods With Sequence Specific Conjugation for Circulating Tumor DNA Screening

We present nanoplasmonic sensing of clinically relevant circulating tumor DNA sequences both in solution and on a substrate. We have demonstrated functionalization of gold nanorods with peptide nucleic acid probes, and selective sensing of a point mutation in the KRAS gene relevant to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. This sensing was measured both at a range of concentrations on nanorods in solution, and on-chip with microfluidically arranged nanorods. Using these techniques, low-concentration label-free circulating tumor DNA can be detected in real-time.