Noble metal-assisted surface plasmon resonance immunosensors

For the early diagnosis of several diseases, various biomarkers have been discovered and utilized through the measurement of concentrations in body fluids such as blood, urine, and saliva. The most representative analytical method for biomarker detection is an immunosensor, which exploits the specific antigen-antibody immunoreaction. Among diverse analytical methods, surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based immunosensors are emerging as a potential detection platform due to high sensitivity, selectivity, and intuitive features. Particularly, SPR-based immunosensors could detect biomarkers without labeling of a specific detection probe, as typical immunosensors such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) use enzymes like horseradish peroxidase (HRP). In this review, SPR-based immunosensors utilizing noble metals such as Au and Ag as SPR-inducing factors for the measurement of different types of protein biomarkers, including viruses, microbes, and extracellular vesicles (EV), are briefly introduced.