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Updated: May 29, 2026
Localization and Relative Quantification of Carbon Nanotubes in Cells with Multispectral Imaging Flow Cytometry
Published on: December 12, 2013
Physiological validation of cell health upon probing with carbon nanotube endoscope and its benefit for single-cell
Zulfiya Orynbayeva1, Riju Singhal, Elina A Vitol
1Department of Surgery, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102, USA. zorynbay@drexelmed.edu
Abstract:
New-generation nanoscale devices for single-cell study are intensively being developed. As has been shown, nanodevices are minimally invasive because of their order-of-magnitude smaller size in comparison to conventional glass pipettes. However, in most studies the evaluation of the nanodevice impact on cell health has not extended to their effects on cell metabolic integrity. In this work we evaluated the degree to which the insertion of a carbon-based nanotube endoscope into a cell induces mechanical and biochemical stress, and affects cellular key metabolic systems. The effects of insertion of the nanotube endoscope on cell morphological and physiological modulations were monitored and compared to those of glass micropipettes. We report that nanotube endoscope insertion does not significantly modulate the plasma membrane and actin network. The cell metabolic mechanisms such as energy production and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate-dependent calcium signaling remain preserved for prolonged endoscope presence within a cell.
From The Clinical Editor:
In this basic science study, the effects of insertion of carbon nanotube endoscope on cell morphological and physiological modulations were monitored and compared to those of glass micropipettes. Nanotube endoscope insertion is truly minimally invasive: it does not significantly modulate the plasma membrane and actin network; the energy production and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate-dependent calcium signaling also remain preserved during prolonged endoscope presence within a cell.
