Three-Dimensional Quantitative Intracellular Visualization of Graphene Oxide Nanoparticles by Tomographic Flow...

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Cell Biology
• Biomedical Sciences

Background:

• Nanoparticle (NP) interaction with cells is crucial for understanding biological and biomedical processes.
• Cellular uptake of NPs can alter cellular pathways and induce toxicity, necessitating methods for visualization.
• Current methods lack the ability to perform 3D imaging of NP distribution in suspended cells using flow cytometry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and demonstrate a novel method for achieving 3D imaging of nanoparticle distribution within individual flowing cells.
• To enable quantitative spatial analysis of nanoparticle-cell interactions.
• To explore the potential for establishing biomarkers for intracellular nanoparticle deployment.

Main Methods:

• Utilized label-free tomographic flow-cytometry.
• Achieved full 3D quantitative spatial distribution imaging of nanographene oxide (nGO) within single flowing cells.
• Demonstrated the capability to analyze intracellular NP distribution without cell fixation or labeling.

Main Results:

• Successfully obtained 3D quantitative spatial distribution of nanographene oxide (nGO) inside individual flowing cells.
• Established the feasibility of label-free tomographic flow-cytometry for NP distribution analysis.
• Paved the way for defining biomarkers characterizing the 3D intracellular deployment of NPs.

Conclusions:

• Label-free tomographic flow-cytometry is a powerful tool for visualizing and quantifying NP distribution in single cells.
• This technique opens new avenues for understanding NP-cell interactions and their biological consequences.
• The method facilitates quantitative descriptions for discovering novel insights in nanomedicine and toxicology.