School of Science, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia.
THz Beamline, Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3168, Australia.
J Synchrotron Radiat. 2023 Jul 1;30(Pt 4):780-787. doi: 10.1107/S1600577523004228. Epub 2023 Jun 20.
The routes by which foreign objects enter cells is well studied; however, their fate following uptake has not been explored extensively. Following exposure to synchrotron-sourced (SS) terahertz (THz) radiation, reversible membrane permeability has been demonstrated in eukaryotic cells by the uptake of nanospheres; nonetheless, cellular localization of the nanospheres remained unclear. This study utilized silica core-shell gold nanospheres (AuSi NS) of diameter 50 ± 5 nm to investigate the fate of nanospheres inside pheochromocytoma (PC 12) cells following SS THz exposure. Fluorescence microscopy was used to confirm nanosphere internalization following 10 min of SS THz exposure in the range 0.5-20 THz. Transmission electron microscopy followed by scanning transmission electron microscopy energy-dispersive spectroscopic (STEM-EDS) analysis was used to confirm the presence of AuSi NS in the cytoplasm or membrane, as single NS or in clusters (22% and 52%, respectively), with the remainder (26%) sequestered in vacuoles. Cellular uptake of NS in response to SS THz radiation could have suitable applications in a vast number of biomedical applications, regenerative medicine, vaccines, cancer therapy, gene and drug delivery.
异物进入细胞的途径已经得到了很好的研究;然而，它们被摄取后的命运还没有被广泛探索。在暴露于同步加速器源(SS)太赫兹(THz)辐射后，通过纳米球的摄取，真核细胞中已经证明了可逆的膜通透性;然而，纳米球的细胞定位仍然不清楚。本研究利用直径为 50±5nm 的硅核壳金纳米球(AuSi NS)来研究 SS THz 暴露后嗜铬细胞瘤(PC12)细胞内纳米球的命运。荧光显微镜用于确认在 0.5-20 THz 的 SS THz 暴露 10 分钟后纳米球的内化。透射电子显微镜(TEM)和扫描透射电子显微镜能谱分析(STEM-EDS)用于确认 AuSi NS 存在于细胞质或细胞膜中，为单个 NS 或在簇中(分别为 22%和 52%)，其余(26%)则被隔离在空泡中。细胞对 SS THz 辐射的纳米球摄取可能在许多生物医学应用、再生医学、疫苗、癌症治疗、基因和药物输送等方面有合适的应用。
