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Bioengineering

Biomolecular Imaging of Cellular Uptake of Nanoparticles using Multimodal Nonlinear Optical Microscopy

Published: May 16th, 2022

DOI:

10.3791/63637

1Biomedical Physics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter
* These authors contributed equally

This article presents the integration of a spectral-focusing module and a dual-output pulse laser, enabling rapid hyperspectral imaging of gold nanoparticles and cancer cells. This work aims to demonstrate the details of multimodal nonlinear optical techniques on a standard laser scanning microscope.

Probing gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in living systems is essential to reveal the interaction between AuNPs and biological tissues. Moreover, by integrating nonlinear optical signals such as stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF), and transient absorption (TA) into an imaging platform, it can be used to reveal biomolecular contrast of cellular structures and AuNPs in a multimodal manner. This article presents a multimodal nonlinear optical microscopy and applies it to perform chemically specific imaging of AuNPs in cancer cells. This imaging platform provides a novel approach for developing more efficient functionalized AuNPs and determining whether they are within vasculatures surrounding the tumor, pericellular, or cellular spaces.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have shown great potential as biocompatible imaging probes, for example, as effective surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates in various biomedical applications. Major applications include fields such as biosensing, bioimaging, surface-enhanced spectroscopies, and photothermal therapy for cancer treatment1. Furthermore, probing AuNPs in living systems is crucial to assessing and understanding the interaction between AuNPs and biological systems. There are various analytical techniques, including Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy2, laser ablation ....

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1. Switching on the laser system

  1. Switch on the interlock system and select arm laser before starting the system.
  2. Turn on the PC with the software to control the dual-output femtosecond laser.
  3. Load the software for the dual-output femtosecond laser; this software enables the laser to be powered on and off and directly controls the wavelength of the pump beam.
  4. Switch on the laser emission by holding down on the Power icon for a count of 3.
  5. Wait until the .......

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The Spectral Focusing Timing and Recombination Unit (SF-TRU) module is introduced between the dual-output femtosecond laser and the modified laser scanning microscope. The tunable ultrafast laser system used in this study has two output ports delivering one beam at a fixed 1,045 nm wavelength and the other beam tunable in the range of 680–1,300 nm. A detailed schematic of the SF-TRU module and multimodal imaging platform is depicted in Figure 1. The SF-TRU is employed to chirp two femt.......

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This study has presented the combination of SF-TRU module and ultrafast dual-output laser system demonstrated its applications for multimodal microspectroscopy. With its ability to investigate gold nanoparticles’ (AuNPs’) uptake by cancer cells, the multimodal imaging platform can visualize the cellular responses to hyperthermic cancer treatments when laser beams are absorbed by AuNPs.

Moreover, rapid chemically specific imaging and high spectral resolution are achieved by employin.......

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This research was supported by EPSRC Grants: Raman Nanotheranostics (EP/R020965/1) and CONTRAST facility (EP/S009957/1).

....

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NameCompanyCatalog NumberComments
APE SRS Detection UnitAPE (Angewandte Physik & Elektronik GmbH)APE Lock-in ModuleCombined system containing a large area Si photo-diode for detecting the pump beam along with a Lock-In amplifier for detecting the beam modulations
Confocal Scanning UnitOlympusFV 3000Confocal scanning unit used for imaging
CML Latex Beads, 4% w/v, 1.0 µmInvitrogenC37483Polystyrene microspheres
CoverslipsThorlabsCG15CH222 mm x 22 mm coverslips for seeding cells
FBSGibco10500-064Foetal Bovine Serum (Heat Inactivated)
FlouviewOlympusFV31S-SWLaser scanning microscope control software
Function GeneratorBX precision40543Used to generate square wave function which is fed to EOM in SF-TRU to produce modulations in the stokes beam
FV3000OlympusIX83P2ZFOther microscope frames can be used.
Gold NanoparticlesNanopartzA11-60Spherical gold nanoparticles, 60 nm diameter
Input Output InterfaceOlympusFV30 ANALOGThis unit allows voltage readouts from PMT and LockIn to be fed into the confocal scanning software and allows timing pulses to be sent between the olympus microscope and the SF-TRU unit.
InSight X3NewportSpectra-PhysicsDual-output femtosecond pulsed laser. Tunable (680–1300 nm) and fixed (1045 nm) laser outputs with the repetition rate of 80 MHz.
Microscope FrameOlympusIX83Inverted microscope
Mouse 4T1 cellsATCCCRL-2539Mouse breast cancer cells
NA 1.2 Water Immersion ObjectiveOlympusUPLSAPO60XW/IRThe multiphoton 60x Objective has a 0.28 mm working distance. Other similar objectives can be used.
NA 1.4 CondenserNikonCSC1003Other condensers with NA higher than the excitation objective can also be used.
PMTHamamatsuR3896PMT used for detecting anti-stokes photos for CARS micrsocopy
PMT ConnectorHamamatsuC13654-01-Y002Connector for PMT
Power SupplyRSRSPD-3303 CProgrammable power supply which is used for providing the correct voltage to the PMT
RPMI-1640GibcoA10491-01Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) 1640 Medium has since been found suitable for a variety of mammalian cells.
SF-TRUNewport Spectra PhysicsSF-TRUSystem designed for controlling the time delay and dispersion of the 2 laser outputs and for performing the beam modulations required for SRS

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