In situ titanium dioxide nanoparticles quantitative microscopy in cells and in C. elegans using nuclear microprobe analysis

Quentin Le Trequesser (1, 2) , Gladys Saez (2) , Guillaume Devès (2) , Philippe Barberet (2) , C. Michelet (2) , Marie-Hélène Delville (1) , Hervé Seznec (2)

1 ICMCB - Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux
2 IPCV - Interface Physique et Chimie pour le Vivant

Detecting and tracking nanomaterials in biological systems is challenging and essential to understand the possible interactions with the living. In this context, in situ analyses were conducted on human skin cells and a multicellular organism (Caenorhabditiselegans) exposed to titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) using nuclear microprobe. Coupled to conventional methods, nuclear microprobe was found to be suitable for accurate description of chemical structure of biological systems and also for detection of native TiO2 NPs. The method presented herein opens the field to NPs exposure effects analyses and more generally to toxicological analyses assisted by nuclear microprobe. This method will show applications in key research areas where in situ imaging of chemical elements is essential.

Mots clés: Nanoparticles; Nuclear microprobe; In situ quantitative analysis; Multicellular specimens/C. elegans; Human cells

Domaines: Chimie analytique; Matériaux

Quentin Le Trequesser, Gladys Saez, Guillaume Devès, Philippe Barberet, C. Michelet, et al.. In situ titanium dioxide nanoparticles quantitative microscopy in cells and in C. elegans using nuclear microprobe analysis. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 2014, 341, pp.58-64. ⟨10.1016/j.nimb.2014.06.031⟩. ⟨in2p3-01073156⟩