AUTHOR: Jorge L. Cholula-Díaz - Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico
Invited by: Lidia Martínez Orellana
When: June, 17 - 11AM
Where: Salón de Actos
Abstract: Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter molecule that plays a crucial role in the hormonal, nervous and cardiovascular systems. The determination of the levels of this neurotransmitter serves as a diagnostic indicator of both Alzheimer s and Parkinson s disease. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has had recent relevance as an analytical technique due to its high sensitivity in the detection of different types of biomolecules. A breakthrough has been the use of noble metal-based anisotropic nanostructures – gold (Au) and silver (Ag) – as SERS substrates due to the possibility to control their optical properties as a function of the particle size and shape of the nanomaterial. However, the affinity between noble metal nanostructures and dopamine presents major challenges due to the lack of a related functional group in the neurotransmitter. To overcome these limitations, in the present work we functionalized anisotropic gold nanostructures using AHMT to promote the attachment of dopamine molecules to the proximity of the metallic surface. The AHMT-Au nanostructures were used as nanoprobes in SERS experiments in the quantification of dopamine in different concentrations. This analytical method provides a highly sensitive dopamine biosensor that could be applied in the quantification of this crucial neurotransmitter related to neurodegenerative diseases.
