IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v7y2016i1d10.1038_ncomms13118.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher J. Serpell

    (Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford
    School of Physical Sciences, Ingram Building, University of Kent)

  • Reida N. Rutte

    (Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford)

  • Kalotina Geraki

    (Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus)

  • Elzbieta Pach

    (Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB)

  • Markus Martincic

    (Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus de la UAB)

  • Magdalena Kierkowicz

    (Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus de la UAB)

  • Sonia De Munari

    (Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford)

  • Kim Wals

    (Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford
    University of Oxford)

  • Ritu Raj

    (Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford)

  • Belén Ballesteros

    (Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB)

  • Gerard Tobias

    (Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus de la UAB)

  • Daniel C. Anthony

    (University of Oxford)

  • Benjamin G. Davis

    (Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher J. Serpell & Reida N. Rutte & Kalotina Geraki & Elzbieta Pach & Markus Martincic & Magdalena Kierkowicz & Sonia De Munari & Kim Wals & Ritu Raj & Belén Ballesteros & Gerard Tobias & Daniel, 2016. "Carbon nanotubes allow capture of krypton, barium and lead for multichannel biological X-ray fluorescence imaging," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13118
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13118
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13118
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms13118?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13118. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.