Gold Nanoparticles: Interference‐Free Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering Tags for Single‐Cell Molecular Imaging with a High Signal‐to‐Background Ratio (Small 15/2017)

In article number 1603340, by Dingbin Liu and co-workers, an interference-free surface-enhanced Raman scattering tag is constructed to profile the expression of cancer biomarkers at the single-cell level. The Raman tags present a strong and sharp peak in the cellular Raman-silent region, significantly diminishing the background interference. Moreover, the reporters are embedded in layered gold nanoparticles, avoiding desorption and enzymatic degradation in physiological conditions.