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Updated: Jul 28, 2026
Quantification of γH2AX Foci in Response to Ionising Radiation
Published on: April 6, 2010
Dynamically-enhanced retention of gold nanoclusters in HeLa cells following X-rays exposure: A cell cycle
Yan Liu1, Weiqiang Chen2, Pengcheng Zhang1
1Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Heavy Ion Radiation Biology and Medicine of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Basic Research on Heavy Ion Radiation Application in Medicine, Gansu Province, Lanzhou, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Background And Purpose:
Cell cycle phase could affect the cellular uptake of nanoparticles. Based on the fact that ionizing radiation exposure can delay cell cycle progression including inducing G2/M phase arrest, we propose that ionizing radiation exposure is a cell cycle phase-dependent targeting approach for intracellular delivery of nano-agents in tumor cells.
Materials And Methods:
We synthesized luminescent gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) using a one-pot green synthetic method. Subsequently, we used the as-prepared AuNCs as both "nano-agents" and fluorescent trafficking probes for our study using human cervical carcinoma HeLa cells. Estimating the cellular uptake of AuNCs and cell cycle analysis were performed following X-rays irradiation and cell synchronization.
Results:
Our work showed that X-rays irradiation could delay the division of HeLa cells and thereby enhance the retention of AuNCs in HeLa cells, which is a reverse strategy compared with other studies on synergistic nano-radiotherapy. Our results demonstrated that the cell cycle synchronization influenced the cellular uptake processes of AuNCs, suggesting that dynamic cell cycle progression could affect the cellular uptake kinetics of AuNCs.
Conclusion:
We consider that the radiation-induced cell division delay might provide a possible mechanism underlying the enhanced effect for the cellular uptake of AuNCs in irradiated HeLa cells.
