TY - JOUR A1 - Loehr, Konrad A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Wanka, Antje Jutta A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Panne, Ulrich T1 - Quantification of metals in single cells by LA-ICP-MS comparison of single spot analysis and imaging N2 - LA-ICP-MS is increasingly used for single cell analysis in two different detection modes using either the imaging mode with subcellular resolution or alternatively single spot analysis of cells with a larger laser spot size. This study compares the analytical figures of merit of both detection modes (signal to noise, precision, accuracy, throughput), as well as ease of operation and data evaluation. Adherent 3T3 fibroblast cells were stained with two metal dyes (mDOTA-Ho, Ir-DNA-intercalator) and several dozen cells were measured using both modes. We found a ten times higher throughput for single spot analysis, which has as well a straightforward data analysis, shortening the total analysis time further. The signal to noise ratio for single spot analysis was found to be slightly better compared to the signal to noise of pixels in imaging. The mean metal intensity per single cell differed by only 10% between both modes and obtained distributions were found to show no statistically significant differences. Using matrix matched calibration based on standards spotted onto nitrocellulose membrane, we achieved detection limits (10 σ) of 12 fg for Ir and 30 fg for Ho and quantified 57 ± 35 fg Ir and 1,192 ± 707 fg Ho per single cell. Compared to a conventional ICP-MS measurement of a digest of ~60,000 cells, 54 % of Ir content and 358 % Ho content was found using quantitative LA-ICP-MS. The difference might be a consequence of the two metal dyes binding to different structures of the cell and therefore might behave differently in sample preparation for conventional and LA-ICP-MS. KW - Single cell analysis KW - LA-ICP-MS PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ja00191j SN - 0267-9477 SN - 1364-5544 VL - 33 IS - 9 SP - 1579 EP - 1587 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-45903 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cruz-Alonso, M. A1 - Fernandez, B. A1 - Álvarez, L. A1 - González-Iglesias, H. A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Pereiro, R. T1 - Bioimaging of metallothioneins in ocular tissue sections by laser ablation-ICP-MS using bioconjugated gold nanoclusters as specific tags N2 - An immunohistochemical method is described to visualize the distribution of metallothioneins 1/2 (MT 1/2) and metallothionein 3 (MT 3) in human ocular tissue. It is making use of (a) antibodies conjugated to gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) acting as labels, and (b) laser ablation (LA) coupled to inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).Water-soluble fluorescent AuNCs (with an average size of 2.7 nm) were synthesized and then conjugated to antibody by carbodiimide coupling. The surface of the modified AuNCs was then blocked with hydroxylamine to avoid nonspecific interactions with biological tissue. Immunoassays for MT 1/2 and MT 3 in ocular tissue sections (5 μm thick) from two post mortem human donors were performed. Imaging studies were then performed by fluorescence using confocal microscopy, and LA-ICP-MS was performed in the retina to measure the signal for gold. Signal amplification by the >500 gold atoms in each nanocluster allowed the antigens (MT 1/2 and MT 3) to be imaged by LA-ICP-MS using a laser spot size as small as 4 μm. The image patterns found in retina are in good agreement with those obtained by conventional fluorescence immunohistochemistry which was used as an established reference method. KW - Metal nanoclusters KW - Fluorescence KW - Protein imaging KW - Thin tissue sections KW - Immunohistochemistry KW - Bioconjugation KW - Carbodiimide crosslinking KW - Laser ablation KW - Mass spectrometry PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2597-1 VL - 185 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-44022 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shigeta, K. A1 - Koellensperger, G. A1 - Rampler, E. A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Rottmann, L. A1 - Panne, Ulrich A1 - Okino, A. A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert T1 - Sample introduction of single selenized yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) by micro droplet generation into an ICP-sector field mass spectrometer for label-free detection of trace elements N2 - We have applied a micro droplet generator (µDG) for sample introduction of single selenized yeast cells into a sector field ICP-MS, which was operated in a fast scanning mode with sampling rates of up to 10 kHz, to measure single cells time resolved with 100 µs integration time. Selenized yeast cells have been used as a model system for preliminary investigation. The single cells to be measured have been embedded into droplets and it will be shown that the time duration of a single cell event always is about 400 to 500 µs, and thus comparable to the time duration of a droplet without a cell. A fixed droplet generation rate of 50 Hz produced equidistant signals in time of each droplet event and was advantageous to separate contribution from background and blank from the analytical signal. Open vessel digestion and a multielement analysis were performed with washed yeast cells and absolute amounts per single cell were determined for Na (0.91 fg), Mg (9.4 fg), Fe (5.9 fg), Cu (0.54 fg), Zn (1.2 fg) and Se (72 fg). Signal intensities from single cells have been measured for the elements Cu, Zn and Se, and histograms were calculated for about 1000 cell events. The mean elemental sensitivities measured here range from 0.7 counts per ag (Se) to 10 counts per ag (Zn) with RSD's from 49% (Zn) to 69% (Se) for about 1000 cell events. PY - 2013 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c3ja30370e SN - 0267-9477 SN - 1364-5544 VL - 28 IS - 5 SP - 637 EP - 645 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - London AN - OPUS4-29448 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Drescher, Daniela A1 - Zeise, Ingrid A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Guttmann, P. A1 - Seifert, Stephan A1 - Büchner, Tina A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Schneider, G. A1 - Kneipp, Janina T1 - In situ characterization of SiO2 nanoparticle biointeractions using BrightSilica N2 - By adding a gold core to silica nanoparticles (BrightSilica), silica-like nanoparticles are generated that, unlike unmodified silica nanoparticles, provide three types of complementary information to investigate the silica nano-biointeraction inside eukaryotic cells in situ. Firstly, organic molecules in proximity of and penetrating into the silica shell in live cells are monitored by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The SERS data show interaction of the hybrid silica particles with tyrosine, cysteine and phenylalanine side chains of adsorbed proteins. Composition of the biomolecular corona of BrightSilica nanoparticles differs in fibroblast and macrophage cells. Secondly, quantification of the BrightSilica nanoparticles using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) micromapping indicates a different interaction of silica nanoparticles compared to gold nanoparticles under the same experimental conditions. Thirdly, the metal cores allow the investigation of particle distribution and interaction in the cellular ultrastructure by cryo nanoscale X-ray tomography (cryo-XT). In 3D reconstructions the assumption is confirmed that BrightSilica nanoparticles enter cells by an endocytotic mechanism. The high SERS intensities are explained by the beneficial plasmonic properties due to agglomeration of BrightSilica. The results have implications for the development of multi-modal qualitative and quantitative characterization in comparative nanotoxicology and bionanotechnology. KW - Silica nanoparticles KW - Surface-enhanced Raman scattering KW - X-ray tomography KW - LA-ICP-MS KW - Core–shell structures PY - 2014 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201304126 SN - 1616-301X SN - 1616-3028 VL - 24 IS - 24 SP - 3765 EP - 3775 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-30924 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Larissa A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Drescher, Daniela A1 - Baranov, Vladimir A1 - Kneipp, Janina T1 - Trends in single-cell analysis by use of ICP-MS N2 - The analysis of single cells is a growing research field in many disciplines such as toxicology, medical diagnosis, drug and cancer research or metallomics, and different methods based on microscopic, mass spectrometric, and spectroscopic techniques are under investigation. This review focuses on the most recent trends in which inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and ICP optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) are applied for single-cell analysis using metal atoms being intrinsically present in cells, taken up by cells (e.g., nanoparticles), or which are artificially bound to a cell. For the latter, especially element tagged antibodies are of high interest and are discussed in the review. The application of different sample introduction systems for liquid analysis (pneumatic nebulization, droplet generation) and elemental imaging by laser ablation ICP-MS (LA-ICP-MS) of single cells are highlighted. Because of the high complexity of biological systems and for a better understanding of processes and dynamics of biologically or medically relevant cells, the authors discuss the idea of 'multimodal spectroscopies.' KW - Bioanalytical methods KW - Cell systems/single cell analysis KW - Mass spectrometry/ICP-MS PY - 2014 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-014-8143-7 SN - 1618-2642 SN - 1618-2650 VL - 406 IS - 27 SP - 6963 EP - 6977 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-31717 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Büchner, Tina A1 - Drescher, Daniela A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Schrade, P. A1 - Bachmann, S. A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Kneipp, Janina T1 - Relating surface-enhanced Raman scattering signals of cells to gold nanoparticle aggregation as determined by LA-ICP-MS micromapping N2 - The cellular response to nanoparticle exposure is essential in various contexts, especially in nanotoxicity and nanomedicine. Here, 14-nm gold nanoparticles in 3T3 fibroblast cells are investigated in a series of pulse-chase experiments with a 30-min incubation pulse and chase times ranging from 15 min to 48 h. The gold nanoparticles and their aggregates are quantified inside the cellular ultrastructure by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry micromapping and evaluated regarding the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signals. In this way, both information about their localization at the micrometre scale and their molecular nanoenvironment, respectively, is obtained and can be related. Thus, the nanoparticle pathway from endocytotic uptake, intracellular processing, to cell division can be followed. It is shown that the ability of the intracellular nanoparticles and their accumulations and aggregates to support high SERS signals is neither directly related to nanoparticle amount nor to high local nanoparticle densities. The SERS data indicate that aggregate geometry and interparticle distances in the cell must change in the course of endosomal maturation and play a critical role for a specific gold nanoparticle type in order to act as efficient SERS nanoprobe. This finding is supported by TEM images, showing only a minor portion of aggregates that present small interparticle spacing. The SERS spectra obtained after different chase times show a changing composition and/or structure of the biomolecule corona of the gold nanoparticles as a consequence of endosomal processing. KW - Gold nanoparticles KW - Surface-enhanced Raman scattering KW - LA-ICP-MS KW - Fibroblast KW - Cell KW - Particle aggregation KW - Endosome PY - 2014 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-014-8069-0 SN - 1618-2642 SN - 1618-2650 VL - 406 IS - 27 SP - 7003 EP - 7014 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-31718 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Drescher, D. A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Büchner, T. A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Kneipp, J. T1 - Properties of in situ generated gold nanoparticles in the cellular context N2 - Gold nanostructures that serve as probes for nanospectroscopic analysis of eukaryotic cell cultures can be obtained by the in situ reduction of tetrachloroauric acid (HAuCl4). To understand the formation process of such intracellularly grown particles depending on the incubation medium, the reaction was carried out with 3T3 fibroblast cells in three different incubation media, phosphate buffer, Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM), and standard cell culture medium (DMEM with fetal calf serum). The size, the optical properties, the biomolecular corona, and the localization of the gold nanoparticles formed in situ vary for the different conditions. The combination of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) microscopic mapping and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provides complementary perspectives on plasmonic nanoparticles and non-plasmonic gold compounds inside the cells. While for the incubation with HAuCl4 in PBS, gold particles provide optical signals from the nucleus, the incubation in standard cell culture medium leads to scavenging of the toxic molecules and the formation of spots of high gold concentration in the cytoplasm without formation of SERS-active particles inside the cells. The biomolecular corona of nanoparticles formed in situ after incubation in buffer and DMEM differs, suggesting that different intracellular molecular species serve for reduction and stabilization. Comparison with data obtained from ready-made gold nanoparticles suggests complementary application of in situ and ex situ generated nanostructures for optical probing. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Laser ablation KW - ICP-MS KW - SERS KW - Cell PY - 2017 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/C7NR04620K SN - 2040-3372 VL - 9 IS - 32 SP - 11647 EP - 11656 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry RSC CY - Cambridge, UK AN - OPUS4-41871 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Phukphatthanachai, Pranee A1 - Vogl, Jochen A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert A1 - Panne, Ulrich T1 - A new approach of using polyethylene frits for the quantification of sulphur in copper metals by isotope dilution LA-ICP-MS and comparison with conventional IDMS techniques N2 - Polyethylene (PE) frits were used to quantify sulphur in copper and its alloys by isotope dilution combined with LA-ICP-MS as an alternative approach to conventional sample preparation: the copper samples were spiked, the spiked samples were dissolved, the resulting solutions were absorbed in the PE frits and finally the PE frits were analysed by LA-ICP-MS. A prerequisite for such a support material is a low sulphur blank and thus PE was selected for this purpose. The absorption efficiency of the PE frits was studied for varying sulphur amounts ranging from 2 mg S to 80 mg S showing that more than 99.5% of the loaded sulphur was absorbed by the frit. The so prepared PE frits were measured by LA-ICP-MS and yielded a good linearity (R2 ¼ 0.999) for the sulphur ion intensities corresponding to sulphur amounts up to 40 mg S; the associated sensitivity is approximately 3.4 x 10⁴ cps μg⁻¹ for ³²S. For the validation of the developed procedure the reference materials BAM-M376a, BAM-228 and BAM-227 were applied such that 2 μg S, 5 μg S and 11 μg S were absorbed in the PE frits, respectively. These samples were pre-quantified for the adsorbed sulphur amount by external calibration LA-ICP-MS yielding sulphur amounts of 0.9 μg, 5.1 μg and 8.5 μg (quantified for ³²S only), respectively. Relative Standard deviations of the isotope ratios were below 5% in average (n ¼ 3 lines) in all cases (except for the pure spike solution). These samples were then analysed by LA-ICP-IDMS and the measurement results were validated by comparing them with the results obtained by conventional ICP-IDMS. The obtained relative expanded measurement uncertainties ranged between 10% and 26%. Pearson's coefficient was used to express the correlation between both techniques; the obtained value was 0.999 demonstrating a strong correlation. Contrary to most published LA-ICP-IDMS procedures, the developed procedure enables SI-traceability for the measurement results. The metrological traceability to the SI for the sulphur mass fractions in copper was established by an unbroken chain of comparisons, each accompanied by an uncertainty budget. Thus, the measurement results are considered reliable, acceptable and comparable within the stated measurement uncertainty. The metrological traceability chain from the kg down to mass fraction in the samples obtained by LA-ICP-IDMS is presented as well. KW - Laser ablation KW - IDMS KW - Traceability KW - Uncertainty KW - Purity PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ja00116b SN - 0267-9477 SN - 1364-5544 VL - 33 IS - 9 SP - 1506 EP - 1517 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-45899 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Drescher, Daniela A1 - Giesen, Charlotte A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Panne, Ulrich A1 - Kneipp, Janina A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert T1 - Quantitative imaging of gold and silver nanoparticles in single eukaryotic cells by laser ablation ICP-MS N2 - Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was utilized for spatially resolved bioimaging of the distribution of silver and gold nanoparticles in individual fibroblast cells upon different incubation experiments. High spatial resolution was achieved by optimization of scan speed, ablation frequency, and laser energy. Nanoparticles are visualized with respect to cellular substructures and are found to accumulate in the perinuclear region with increasing incubation time. On the basis of matrix-matched calibration, we developed a method for quantification of the number of metal nanoparticles at the single-cell level. The results provide insight into nanoparticle/cell interactions and have implications for the development of analytical methods in tissue diagnostics and therapeutics. KW - Imaging KW - Cell KW - Nanoparticles KW - Laser ablation KW - ICP-MS PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/ac302639c SN - 0003-2700 SN - 1520-6882 VL - 84 IS - 22 SP - 9684 EP - 9688 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-27440 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shigeta, K. A1 - Traub, Heike A1 - Panne, Ulrich A1 - Okino, A. A1 - Rottmann, L. A1 - Jakubowski, Norbert T1 - Application of a micro-droplet generator for an ICP-sector field mass spectrometer - optimization and analytical characterization N2 - A micro-droplet generator (µDG) sample introduction system was coupled to a sector field ICP-MS instrument to investigate the analytical figures of merit with respect to single cell analysis. The sector field instrument was operated for the first time in a fast scanning mode (E-scan) with the shortest time resolution of 100 µs to measure the single droplet time resolved and using the original detector in a pulse counting mode without modification of the existing electronics. For reduction of the droplet diameter a triple pulse mode of the droplet generator was applied and a droplet diameter down to 23 µm has been achieved for this investigation with a 100% transport efficiency of droplets. Signal duration times of single droplets of less than 500 µs have been measured. Overall detection efficiencies in the range of 10-3 counts per atom have been achieved and absolute limits of detection range between 120 ag for Fe and 1.1 ag for Mg as a mean value from 1000 droplet events. PY - 2013 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c2ja30207a SN - 0267-9477 SN - 1364-5544 VL - 28 IS - 5 SP - 646 EP - 656 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - London AN - OPUS4-29447 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -