Cell Uptake of Nanoparticles

Nanotechnology, the area of study involving nanoparticles, century; medical fields. The nanotechnology is one of the fastest growing sectors of the high-tech economy in the 21st industry, it is currently undergoing unprecedented development in nowadays especially in areas of biological research for clinical, environmental and life science applications. The most frequently used nanoparticles are superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles and semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). SPIO nanoparticles with nanometer sizes and superparamagnetic properties are widely used for labeling and sorting cells or organelles, magnetic resonance imaging, targeted drug delivery, and hyperthermia. QDs combined the unique size-dependent physical properties, excellent chemical and photochemical stability, controlled and increased endocytosis, enhanced cooperative binding activity, and easy introduction of multi-functionality for targeted delivery and imaging, and became the most promising labeling tool for life science studies. Both types of nanomaterials provide special approaches for complex studies and play very important roles in modern biomedical research. However, non-specific uptake of QDs and SPIO nanoparticles is a major concern because it can lead to false positives or false results. Hence, we report cellular uptake studies on SPIO nanoparticles and QDs conducted on breast cancer cell line SK-BR3. The results show that both QDs and SPIO nanoparticles have very strong non-specific cellular uptake. With specially designed blocking buffer (BBB) the non-specific signals were significantly decreased.