Gold Nanoparticle Labeling Based ICP-MS Detection/Measurement of Bacteria, and Their Quantitative Photothermal Destruction.

Bacteria such as and present a great challenge in public health care in today's society. Protection of public safety against bacterial contamination and rapid diagnosis of infection require simple and fast assays for the detection and elimination of bacterial pathogens. After utilizing as an example bacterial strain for our investigation, we report a rapid and sensitive assay for the qualitative and quantitative detection of bacteria by using antibody affinity binding, popcorn shaped gold nanoparticle (GNPOPs) labeling, surfance enchanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) detection. For qualitative analysis, our assay can detect within 10 min by Raman spectroscopy; for quantitative analysis, our assay has the ability to measure as few as 100 in a 1 mL sample (100 CFU/mL) within 40 min. Based on the quantitative detection, we investigated the quantitative destruction of , and the assay's photothermal efficiency in order to reduce the amount of GNPOPs in the assay to ultimately to eliminate any potential side effects/toxicity to the surrounding cells . Results suggest that our assay may serve as a promising candidate for qualitative and quantitative detection and elimination of a variety of bacterial pathogens.