We report the synthesis of dicarboxylic acid-terminated polyethylene-glycol (PEG)-gold nanoparticles by a simple one-step method, and their further use to form nanostructured surfaces for biomolecule immobilization. The synthesized nano-scale particles were conjugated with probe/target oligonucleotides in order to evaluate intercalation phenomenon in the presence of doxorubicin drug via surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) analysis. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.