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Nuclear Uptake of Gold Nanoparticles Deduced Using Dual‐Angle X‐Ray Fluorescence Mapping
Author(s) -
McCulloch Aaron,
Bennie Lindsey,
Coulter Jonathan A.,
McCarthy Helen O.,
Dromey Brendan,
Grimes David R.,
Quinn Paul,
VillagomezBernabe Balder,
Currell Frederick
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
particle and particle systems characterization
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.877
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1521-4117
pISSN - 0934-0866
DOI - 10.1002/ppsc.201900140
Subject(s) - colloidal gold , nanomedicine , nucleus , nanoparticle , fluorescence , population , nanotechnology , biophysics , chemistry , materials science , physics , optics , biology , medicine , neuroscience , environmental health
Studies into the cell nucleus' incorporation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are often limited by ambiguities arising from conventional imaging techniques. Indeed, it is suggested that to date there is no unambiguous imaging evidence for such uptake in whole cells, particularly at the single nanoparticle level. This shortcoming in understanding exists despite the nucleus being the most important subcellular compartment in eukaryotes and gold being the most commonly used metal nanoparticle in medical applications. Here, dual‐angle X‐ray flouresence is used to show individually resolved nanoparticles within the cell nucleus, finding them to be well separated and 79% of the intranuclear population to be monodispersed. These findings have important implications for nanomedicine, illustrated here through a specific exemplar of the predicted enhancement of radiation effects arising from the observed AuNPs, finding intranuclear dose enhancements spanning nearly five orders of magnitude.