Diagnostic oriented discrimination of different Shiga toxins via PCA-assisted SERS-based plasmonic metasurface

Plasmonic biosensors are powerful platforms for detecting various types of analytes. Specifically, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) can enable label-free and selective detection. Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) represents zoonotic pathogens that cause severe diseases, such as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), the most important cause of acute renal failure in children. To date, there are no effective therapies for STEC infection, and the available diagnostic methods are complex and inconclusive. Here, a novel nanopattern fabricated by electron beam lithography with remarkable plasmonic properties is employed as SERS substrate for realizing the specific recognition of Stx1a, Stx2a, and of a third variation of the latter. A limit of detection (LOD) of 6.8 pM for Stx1a and 2 pM for Stx2a was achieved. Our approach supported using the principal component analysis (PCA) appears to be a valid alternative to conventional methods, allowing real-time and fast in situ analysis.