Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis has been a traditional challenge as conventional methods are often invasive, costly.

A research team led by Prof. HUANG Qing at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed an advanced biosensing platform using Aptamer-based Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (Aptamer-SERS) technology to detect Alzheimer's-related biomarkers in blood samples with high sensitivity.

The study was published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics.

The researchers used a new biosensing platform to track AD in both mouse models and human blood samples. They found a clear link between changes in biomarkers and the progression of AD over time.

“This innovative and efficient strategy for AD assessment was able to measure multiple biomarkers at once, giving real-time information on the disease's progress,” said Dr. Muhammad Muhammad, first author of the study and also a researcher at HFIPS.

It used specially designed aptamer-nanoprobes that produced Raman spectrum when they bound to target molecules, making it possible to detect even minute amounts of biomarkers—critical for diagnosing AD at early stages.

The design also ensured specific targeting of biomarkers, and minimized false positives occurence, which was common with traditional methods.

“It is minimally invasive, and requires only a small blood sample for analysis," said Dr. Muhammad. "and it provides faster, and reliable results."

This platform holds potential for earlier AD detection and disease progression monitoring, and offers hope for future AD diagnostic technology development.

Schematic illustration of AD-biomarkers monitoring in blood using aptamer-SERS-microfluidic chips technology. (Image by Muhammad)

Preparation steps of (A) capturing probe and (B) reporter probes through modification with aptamer 1 and aptamer 2. (C) The general execution of nanoprobes to analyze AD-related biomarkers in mice serum using SERS-multiwell glass chip setup. (Image by Muhammad)