Letter abstract
Nature Nanotechnology 3, 501 - 505 (2008)
Published online: 22 June 2008 | doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.162
Subject Categories: Nanometrology and instrumentation | Nanoparticles | Surface patterning and imaging
Imaging nanoparticles in cells by nanomechanical holography
Laurene Tetard1,2, Ali Passian1,2, Katherine T. Venmar1, Rachel M. Lynch1, Brynn H. Voy1, Gajendra Shekhawat3, Vinayak P. Dravid3 & Thomas Thundat1,2
Abstract
Nanomaterials have potential medical applications, for example in the area of drug delivery, and their possible adverse effects and cytotoxicity are curently receiving attention1, 2. Inhalation of nanoparticles is of great concern, because nanoparticles can be easily aerosolized. Imaging techniques that can visualize local populations of nanoparticles at nanometre resolution within the structures of cells are therefore important3. Here we show that cells obtained from mice exposed to single-walled carbon nanohorns can be probed using a scanning probe microscopy technique called scanning near field ultrasonic holography. The nanohorns were observed inside the cells, and this was further confirmed using micro Raman spectroscopy. Scanning near field ultrasonic holography is a useful technique for probing the interactions of engineered nanomaterials in biological systems, which will greatly benefit areas in drug delivery and nanotoxicology.
- Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
- Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1200, USA
- Materials Science & Engineering department, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA
Correspondence to: Ali Passian1,2 e-mail: passianan@ornl.gov
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