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Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Biomolecular Imaging of Cellular Uptake of Nanoparticles using Multimodal Nonlinear Optical Microscopy
Published on: May 16, 2022
Molecular Imaging Cellular SPIO Uptake with Nonlinear Optical Microscopy
Lina Machtoub1, Rudolf Pfeiffer2, Aleksandar Backovic3
1Universitaetsklinik Fuer Radiodiagnostik, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.
Abstract:
We report a novel application to demonstrate and visualize the selective binding of lipids in cells of the reticuloendothelial system to super paramagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles. Ten New Zealand White rabbits that were experimentally injected intravenously with SPIO and five controls were investigated with vibrational microspectroscopy based on surface-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (SECARS) microscopy. Marked cellular intensity enhancements in hepatic Kupffer cells and melanomacrophages of spleen have been observed in the range of 2850-2875 cm-1 in SPIO-injected animals but not in controls. The enhancements are related to the selective association of lipid molecules in cells of the reticuloendothelial system to uptaken SPIO, which can uniquely be visualized with SECARS microscopy.
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