Variation in the uptake of nanoparticles by monolayer cultured cells using high resolution MeV ion beam imaging

Abstract Gold nanoparticle uptake by cells is being increasingly studied because of its potential in biomedical applications. In this work, we show how scanning transmission ion microscopy can be employed to visualize and quantify 50 nm gold nanoparticles taken up by individual cells. Preliminary studies have indicated that the cellular content of gold nanoparticles exhibits a wide variation (up to a factor of 10) among individual cells. This cell-to-cell variation can affect the efficiency of utilizing gold nanoparticles for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes.