On the application of surface enhanced Raman scattering to study the interaction of DsRed fluorescent proteins with silver nanoparticles embedded in thin silica layers

The interaction of proteins with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is of primary importance to uncover silver antimicrobial efficiency and environmental hazard. This interaction can affect silver reactivity, bioavailability and, eventually, silver toxicity towards the environmental media. Detection of the interaction of DsRed fluorescent proteins with AgNPs embedded in thin silica layers is demonstrated using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), but deep analyses require the design and elaboration of dedicated plasmonic substrates giving a high enhancement factor