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Updated: May 2, 2026
Detection of Intracellular Gene Expression in Live Cells of Murine, Human and Porcine Origin Using Fluorescence-labeled Nanoparticles
Published on: November 13, 2015
Gold nanoparticles explore cells: cellular uptake and their use as intracellular probes
Anna Huefner1, Dedy Septiadi2, Bodo D Wilts3
1Sector for Biological and Soft Systems, Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK; Institute of Life Sciences and Department of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Highfield Campus, SO17 1BJ Southampton, UK.
Abstract:
Understanding uptake of nanomaterials by cells and their use for intracellular sensing is important for studying their interaction and toxicology as well as for obtaining new biological insight. Here, we investigate cellular uptake and intracellular dynamics of gold nanoparticles and demonstrate their use in reporting chemical information from the endocytotic pathway and cytoplasm. The intracellular gold nanoparticles serve as probes for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) allowing for biochemical characterisation of their local environment. In particular, in this work we compare intracellular SERS using non-functionalised and functionalised nanoparticles in their ability to segregate different but closely related cell phenotypes. The results indicate that functionalised gold nanoparticles are more efficient in distinguishing between different types of cells. Our studies pave the way for understanding the uptake of gold nanoparticles and their utilisation for SERS to give rise to a greater biochemical understanding in cell-based therapies.
