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Slowed diffusion of single nanoparticles in the extracellular microenvironment of living cells revealed by darkfield microscopy

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Abstract

We obtained vertical distribution of diffusion coefficients of single gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the extracellular solution space of living cells with optical sectioning darkfield microscopy. It was identified that before reaching the plasma membrane surface during their cellular uptake process, AuNPs must diffuse through a viscous pericellular “buffer zone” several microns thick where their motion is retarded significantly. The pericellular layer exists in two different cell types and is unrelated to the surface chemistry of AuNPs. Further studies on its properties and manipulation may help the development of nanoparticle probes and carriers.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by NSFC 20605008, NSFC 20975036, Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University and Hunan University 985 fund. E.S.Y. thanks the Ames Laboratory for partial support of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical Engineering Center, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

    Rui Zhou, Bin Xiong, Yan He & Edward S. Yeung

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  1. Rui Zhou
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  2. Bin Xiong
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  3. Yan He
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  4. Edward S. Yeung
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Correspondence to Yan He.

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Zhou, R., Xiong, B., He, Y. et al. Slowed diffusion of single nanoparticles in the extracellular microenvironment of living cells revealed by darkfield microscopy. Anal Bioanal Chem 399, 353–359 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-010-4340-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-010-4340-1

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