Carbon nanotubes allow capture of krypton, barium and lead for multichannel biological X-ray fluorescence imaging

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13118

Authors: Christopher J. Serpell (University of Oxford; University of Kent) , Reida N. Rutte (University of Oxford) , Kalotina Geraki (Diamond Light Source) , Elzbieta Pach (Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2); CSIC; The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology) , Markus Martincic (Institut de Cie`ncia de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC)) , Magdalena Kierkowicz (Institut de Cie`ncia de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC)) , Sonia De Munari (University of Oxford) , Kim Wals (University of Oxford) , Ritu Raj (Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford) , Belen Ballesteros (Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2); CSIC; The Barcelona Institute of Science) , Gerard Tobias (Institut de Cie`ncia de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC)) , Daniel C. Anthony (Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford) , Benjamin G. Davis (Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Nature Communications , VOL 7 , PAGES 13118

State: Published (Approved)
Published: October 2016
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 11203

Abstract: The desire to study biology in situ has been aided by many imaging techniques. Among these, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping permits observation of elemental distributions in a multichannel manner. However, XRF imaging is underused, in part, because of the difficulty in interpreting maps without an underlying cellular ‘blueprint’; this could be supplied using contrast agents. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be filled with a wide range of inorganic materials, and thus can be used as ‘contrast agents’ if biologically absent elements are encapsulated. Here we show that sealed single-walled CNTs filled with lead, barium and even krypton can be produced, and externally decorated with peptides to provide affinity for sub-cellular targets. The agents are able to highlight specific organelles in multiplexed XRF mapping, and are, in principle, a general and versatile tool for this, and other modes of biological imaging.

Journal Keywords: XRF carbon nanotubes x-ray imaging nanobiotechnology molecular medicine organelles chemical tools Flourescence imaging

Subject Areas: Biology and Bio-materials, Chemistry


Instruments: I18-Microfocus Spectroscopy

Documents:
ncomms13118.pdf

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