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Silicon Microchips for Manipulating Cell-cell Interaction
Published on: August 30, 2007
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Polysilicon-chromium-gold intracellular chips for multi-functional biomedical applications
Tania Patiño1, Jorge Soriano, Ezhil Amirthalingam
1Unitat de Biologia Cellular, Departament de Biologia Cellular, Fisiologia i Immunologia, Facultat de Biociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193, Spain. Carme.nogues@uab.cat.
Nanoscale
|April 12, 2016
Summary
Multi-material intracellular chips (MMICCs) show promise in biomedicine. These biocompatible, non-inflammatory nanodevices are efficiently internalized by cells and can be functionalized for targeted cancer cell delivery and pH sensing.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Nanotechnology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Micro- and nanosystems are increasingly vital in biomedicine, aiming for multifunctional platforms.
- Designing effective and safe nanoplatforms requires understanding their biological interactions, influenced by particle features and cell types.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the feasibility of multi-material pSi-Cr-Au intracellular chips (MMICCs) for multifunctional biomedical applications.
- To characterize MMICC interactions with tumorigenic and non-tumorigenic cell lines, assessing biocompatibility, internalization, and intracellular fate.
- To evaluate the impact of MMICCs on inflammatory responses by measuring cytokine secretion.
Main Methods:
- Investigated biocompatibility, internalization, and intracellular fate of MMICCs in two distinct cell lines.
- Assessed the inflammatory response by quantifying human inflammatory cytokines (TNFα, IL1b, IL6, IL10) secreted by macrophages.
- Demonstrated dual functionalization of MMICCs with transferrin for cancer cell targeting and pHrodo™ Red, SE for intracellular pH detection.
Main Results:
- MMICCs exhibited high biocompatibility and non-inflammatory properties.
- Internalization efficiency of MMICCs was significantly dependent on the cell type.
- Proof-of-concept demonstrated successful dual functionalization for targeted delivery and pH sensing.
Conclusions:
- MMICCs are suitable for multifunctional biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility and non-inflammatory nature.
- Cell type influences MMICC internalization, a critical factor for in vivo applications.
- MMICCs offer a versatile platform for advanced biomedical functionalities.

