Ergothioneine, a dietary amino acid with a high relevance for the interpretation of label-free surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of many biological samples
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Elisa Gurian; Alois Bonifacio; Gabriele Stocco; Valter Sergo; Elena Genova; Sofia Pagarin; Giuliana Decorti; Stefano Fornasaro
- Source
- Subject
- Serum
Erythrocytes
chemistry.chemical_element
Spectrum Analysis, Raman
Photochemistry
Biofluid
Spectral line
Analytical Chemistry
Metal
symbols.namesake
chemistry.chemical_compound
Plasma
Biofluids
Instrumentation
Raman
Spectroscopy
Ergothioneine
Antioxidant
SERS
chemistry.chemical_classification
Chemistry
Sulfur
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Amino acid
Erythrocyte
visual_art
symbols
visual_art.visual_art_medium
Gold
Raman spectroscopy
Erg
Raman scattering
- Language
- English
Intense SERS spectra of the natural amino acid ergothioneine (ERG) are obtained on different substrates upon 785 nm excitation. A characteristic spectral pattern with a distinctive intense band at 480–486 cm−1 is conserved when substrates of different type and characteristics are used. On the basis of available literature, we propose ERG is adsorbed on the metal surface in its thiolate form via the sulphur and heterocyclic nitrogen. The same spectral pattern is obtained in SERS spectra of filtered erythrocytes lysates, confirming the presence of ERG in those cells. The occurrence of ERG bands in label-free SERS spectra of serum and plasma reported in literature by different authors is discussed, highlighting the importance of this amino acid for the interpretation of SERS spectra of these biofluids.