Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, 3000 Broadway, New York, New York 10027, United States.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, 1210 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York 10027, United States.
Nano Lett. 2024 Jan 24;24(3):1024-1033. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c04463. Epub 2024 Jan 11.
Nanomedicine has brought significant advancements to healthcare by utilizing nanotechnology in medicine. Despite much promise, the further development of nanocarriers for clinical use has been hindered by a lack of understanding and visualization of nano-bio interactions. Conventional imaging methods have limitations in resolution, sensitivity, and specificity. This study introduces a label-free optical approach using stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy to image poly(lactic--glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanocarriers, the most widely used polymeric nanocarrier for delivery therapeutic agents, with single-particle sensitivity and quantification capabilities. A unique Raman peak was identified for PLGA ester, enabling generalized bio-orthogonal bond imaging. We demonstrated quantitative SRS imaging of PLGA nanocarriers across different biological systems from cells to animal tissues. This label-free imaging method provides a powerful tool for studying this prevalent nanocarrier and quantitatively visualizing their distribution, interaction, and clearance in vivo.
纳米医学通过在医学中应用纳米技术带来了重大进展。尽管前景广阔,但由于对纳米生物相互作用的理解和可视化不足,纳米载体进一步用于临床的发展受到了阻碍。传统的成像方法在分辨率、灵敏度和特异性方面存在局限性。本研究介绍了一种使用受激拉曼散射(SRS)显微镜的无标记光学方法,用于对聚(乳酸-共-乙醇酸)(PLGA)纳米载体进行成像,PLGA 纳米载体是最广泛用于递送治疗剂的聚合物纳米载体,具有单颗粒灵敏度和定量能力。确定了用于 PLGA 酯的独特拉曼峰,从而能够进行广义的生物正交键成像。我们展示了通过 SRS 成像对来自细胞到动物组织的不同生物系统中的 PLGA 纳米载体进行定量成像。这种无标记成像方法为研究这种常见的纳米载体并定量观察其在体内的分布、相互作用和清除提供了有力工具。