Evaluation of tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for characterizing different virus strains.

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is a highly sensitive spectroscopic technique which combines the advantages of optical spectroscopy with the requirements needed for the characterization of biological nano-structures. In this study, TERS was used to investigate the applicability of this spectroscopic technique for the detection of different virus strains like avipoxvirus and adeno-associated virus. TERS spectra obtained from different particles of the same virus strain show variations in relative peak intensities and positions of most spectral features observed. These spectral variations were higher for the larger avipoxvirus particles (∅≈350 nm) than for the smaller adeno-associated virus particles (∅≈26 nm). This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011