Advanced Optical Imaging Reveals Dependence of Particle Geometry on Interactions between CdSe Quantum Dots and Immune Cells (original) (raw)

Cellular uptake of nanoparticles: journey inside the cell

Chemical Society reviews, 2017

Nanoscale materials are increasingly found in consumer goods, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. While these particles interact with the body in myriad ways, their beneficial and/or deleterious effects ultimately arise from interactions at the cellular and subcellular level. Nanoparticles (NPs) can modulate cell fate, induce or prevent mutations, initiate cell-cell communication, and modulate cell structure in a manner dictated largely by phenomena at the nano-bio interface. Recent advances in chemical synthesis have yielded new nanoscale materials with precisely defined biochemical features, and emerging analytical techniques have shed light on nuanced and context-dependent nano-bio interactions within cells. In this review, we provide an objective and comprehensive account of our current understanding of the cellular uptake of NPs and the underlying parameters controlling the nano-cellular interactions, along with the available analytical techniques to follow and track these proces...

Dynamics and mechanisms of quantum dot nanoparticle cellular uptake

Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 2010

Background: The rapid growth of the nanotechnology industry and the wide application of various nanomaterials have raised concerns over their impact on the environment and human health. Yet little is known about the mechanism of cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of nanoparticles. An array of nanomaterials has recently been introduced into cancer research promising for remarkable improvements in diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Among them, quantum dots (QDs) distinguish themselves in offering many intrinsic photophysical properties that are desirable for targeted imaging and drug delivery.

Intracellular imaging of nanoparticles: is it an elemental mistake to believe what you see?

Particle and fibre toxicology, 2010

In order to understand how nanoparticles (NPs <100 nm) interact with cellular systems, potentially causing adverse effects, it is important to be able to detect and localize them within cells. Due to the small size of NPs, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an appropriate technique to use for visualizing NPs inside cells, since light microscopy fails to resolve them at a single particle level. However, the presence of other cellular and non-cellular nano-sized structures in TEM cell samples, which may resemble NPs in size, morphology and electron density, can obstruct the precise intracellular identification of NPs. Therefore, elemental analysis is recommended to confirm the presence of NPs inside the cell. The present study highlights the necessity to perform elemental analysis, specifically energy filtering TEM, to confirm intracellular NP localization using the example of quantum dots (QDs). Recently, QDs have gained increased attention due to their fluorescent characte...

Perspectives in Nanoparticle Imaging of Living Cells

AIP Conference …, 2010

Semiconductor nanocrystals are used in applications as diverse as solar-energy conversion, lighting, displays and biological imaging. While electrons and holes move freely in bulk semiconductors, they 'recombine' and emit light when they are confined in a quantum dot or nanocrystal. Moreover, as the color of this light can be tuned by varying the size of the quantum dots much excitement has been created over the past years that these advanced materials may provide superior tools for medical imaging and their use in life cell bioimaging is just around the corner (1). However, despite a number of singular reports on successful use of nanoparticles in life cell imaging, a number of pitfalls have been recognized over the past decade. We will compare properties of nanocrystals with other fluorophores, report on their toxicity in living cells and describe novel instrumentation for improved detection of nanocrystals in living cells.

Nanoparticle interactions with live cells: Quantitative fluorescence microscopy of nanoparticle size effects

Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, 2014

Engineered nanomaterials are known to enter human cells, often via active endocytosis. Mechanistic details of the interactions between nanoparticles (NPs) with cells are still not well enough understood. NP size is a key parameter that controls the endocytic mechanism and affects the cellular uptake yield. Therefore, we have systematically analyzed the cellular uptake of fluorescent NPs in the size range of 3.3–100 nm (diameter) by live cells. By using spinning disk confocal microscopy in combination with quantitative image analysis, we studied the time courses of NP association with the cell membrane and subsequent internalization. NPs with diameters of less than 10 nm were observed to accumulate at the plasma membrane before being internalized by the cells. In contrast, larger NPs (100 nm) were directly internalized without prior accumulation at the plasma membrane, regardless of their surface charges. We attribute this distinct size dependence to the requirement of a sufficiently...

Nanoparticles for Applications in Cellular Imaging

Nanoscale Research Letters, 2007

In the following review we discuss several types of nanoparticles (such as TiO 2 , quantum dots, and gold nanoparticles) and their impact on the ability to image biological components in fixed cells. The review also discusses factors influencing nanoparticle imaging and uptake in live cells in vitro. Due to their unique size-dependent properties nanoparticles offer numerous advantages over traditional dyes and proteins. For example, the photostability, narrow emission peak, and ability to rationally modify both the size and surface chemistry of Quantum Dots allow for simultaneous analyses of multiple targets within the same cell. On the other hand, the surface characteristics of nanometer sized TiO 2 allow efficient conjugation to nucleic acids which enables their retention in specific subcellular compartments. We discuss cellular uptake mechanisms for the internalization of nanoparticles and studies showing the influence of nanoparticle size and charge and the cell type targeted on nanoparticle uptake. The predominant nanoparticle uptake mechanisms include clathrin-dependent mechanisms, macropinocytosis, and phagocytosis.

Mechanisms of Quantum Dot Nanoparticle Cellular Uptake

Toxicological Sciences, 2009

Due to the superior photoemission and photostability characteristics, quantum dots (QD) are novel tools in biological and medical applications. However, the toxicity and mechanism of QD uptake are poorly understood. QD nanoparticles with an emission wavelength of 655 nm are ellipsoid in shape and consist of a cadmium/selenide core with a zinc sulfide shell. We have shown that QD with a carboxylic acid surface coating were recognized by lipid rafts but not by clathrin or caveolae in human epidermal keratinocytes (HEKs). QD were internalized into early endosomes and then transferred to late endosomes or lysosomes. In addition, 24 endocytic interfering agents were used to investigate the mechanism by which QD enter cells. Our results showed that QD endocytic pathways are primarily regulated by the G-proteincoupled receptor associated pathway and low density lipoprotein receptor/scavenger receptor, whereas other endocytic interfering agents may play a role but with less of an inhibitory effect. Lastly, low toxicity of QD was shown with the 20nM dose in HEK at 48 h but not at 24 h by the live/dead cell assay. QD induced more actin filaments formation in the cytoplasm, which is different from the actin depolymerization by cadmium. These findings provide insight into the specific mechanism of QD nanoparticle uptake in cells. The surface coating, size, and charge of QD nanoparticles are important parameters in determining how nanoparticle uptake occurs in mammalian cells for cancer diagnosis and treatment, and drug delivery.

The effect of nanoparticle uptake on cellular behavior: disrupting or enabling functions?

Nanotechnology, Science and Applications, 2012

Nanoparticles (NPs) are materials with overall dimensions in the nanoscale range. They have unique physicochemical properties, and have emerged as important players in current research in modern medicine. In the last few decades, several types of NPs and microparticles have been synthesized and proposed for use as contrast agents for diagnostics and imaging and for drug delivery; for example, in cancer therapy. Yet specific targeting that will improve their delivery still represents an unsolved challenge. The mechanism by which NPs enter the cell has important implications not only for their fate but also for their impact on biological systems. Several papers in the literature discuss the potential risks related to NP exposure, and more recently the concept that even sublethal doses of NPs may elicit a cell response has been proposed. In this review, we intend to present an overall view of cell mechanisms that may be perturbed by cell-NP interaction. Published data, in fact, emphasize that NPs should no longer be viewed only as simple carriers for biomedical applications, but that they can also play an active role in mediating biological effects.

Super Resolution Imaging of Nanoparticles Cellular Uptake and Trafficking

ACS applied materials & interfaces, 2016

Understanding the interaction between synthetic nanostructures and living cells is of crucial importance for the development of nanotechnology-based intracellular delivery systems. Fluorescence microscopy is one of the most widespread tools owing to its ability to image multiple colors in native conditions. However, due to the limited resolution, it is unsuitable to address individual diffraction-limited objects. Here we introduce a combination of super-resolution microscopy and single-molecule data analysis to unveil the behavior of nanoparticles during their entry into mammalian cells. Two-color Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM) addresses the size and positioning of nanoparticles inside cells and probes their interaction with the cellular machineries at nanoscale resolution. Moreover, we develop image analysis tools to extract quantitative information about internalized particles from STORM images. To demonstrate the potential of our methodology, we extract prev...