High Throughput LSPR Nanasensor for Hormone Detection

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As the baby boomer generation matures, more and more women are reaching menopause. Although this is a normal life transition, it has both unpleasant (hot flashes) and possibly dangerous (bone loss) side effects. In many women, menopausal hormone changes begin long before symptoms appear. For early intervention purposes, the high throughput monitoring of estrogens and other hormone levels in body fluids is very important. It is also important as a tool for providing epidemiological evidence of the risks of breast cancer and reproductive related cancers through the analysis and correlation of hormone levels. Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc. (IOS) proposes to develop an innovative, portable, sensitive, high throughput sensor for the rapid recognition and analysis of sex steroid hormones. This sensor will be based on local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-enhanced receptor binding technology. Estrogen will be chosen as our model system. Assays of hormones will be conducted using triangular silver nanoplates that will be coupled to a multiplexed imaging system. This label-free detection will enable the high throughput and low cost monitoring of epidemiological hormone levels with improved sensitivity. The proposed technology has the potential to be extended to numerous other important analytical targets in areas such as medicine, environmental monitoring, biotechnology, and drug and food monitoring.