The combination of an optical microscope and a luminescent probe plays a pivotal role in biological imaging because it allows for probing subcellular structures. However, the optical resolutions are largely constrained by Abbe's diffraction limit, and the common dye probes often suffer from photobleaching. Here we present a new method for subwavelength imaging by combining lanthanide-doped upconversion nanocrystals with the ionoluminescence imaging technique. We experimentally observed that the ion beam can be used as a new form of excitation source to induce photon upconversion in lanthanide-doped nanocrystals. This approach enables luminescence imaging and simultaneous mapping of cellular structures with a spatial resolution of sub-30 nm.
High-resolution microscopy techniques have become an essential tool in both biological and biomedical sciences, enabling the visualization of biological processes at cellular and subcellular levels. For many years, these imaging techniques utilized conventional optical microscopes including those with confocal facilities. However, the spatial resolutions achieved were largely limited to around 200 nm, as determined by the diffraction of light. To overcome this diffraction barrier, considerable scientific and technological effort has resulted in the development of super-resolution optical-based techniques, scanning probe microscopies, and also techniques utilizing charged particles (e.g., energetic electrons and ions) or high-energy photons (e.g., X-ray), which exhibit much shorter de Broglie wavelengths. Among the charged particle techniques, those utilizing mega-electron-volt (MeV) ion beams appear to have unique advantages primarily because MeV ions can penetrate through several microns of biological tissue (e.g., whole cells) with little deflection in their trajectories, and hence spatial resolutions are maintained while traversing the sample. Recently, we have witnessed the significant development of MeV ion beam focusing systems in reducing beam dimensions well below 100 nm, such that single whole cell imaging at 20 nm spatial resolutions is now possible. In this review, two super resolution imaging modalities that utilize MeV highly focused ion beams are discussed: Scanning Transmission Ion Microscopy (STIM), which images the areal density of cells and gives an insight into the cellular structure, and Proton/Helium-ion Induced Fluorescence Microcopy (P/HeIFM), which images the fluorescence emission of fluorescent markers and probes used as labels within the cells. This review hopes to demonstrate the potential of MeV ion microscopy, which is still in its infancy, and describe the simultaneous use of STIM and P/HeIFM as a new and powerful multifaceted technology.
We present a simple and universal approach to calculate the total ionization cross section (TICS) for electron impact ionization in DNA bases and other biomaterials in the condensed phase. Evaluating the electron impact TICS plays a vital role in ion-beam radiobiology simulation at the cellular level, as secondary electrons are the main cause of DNA damage in particle cancer therapy. Our method is based on extending the dielectric formalism. The calculated results agree well with experimental data and show a good comparison with other theoretical calculations. This method only requires information of the chemical composition and density and an estimate of the mean binding energy to produce reasonably accurate TICS of complex biomolecules. Because of its simplicity and great predictive effectiveness, this method could be helpful in situations where the experimental TICS data are absent or scarce, such as in particle cancer therapy.
Correlative imaging and quantification of intracellular nanoparticles with the underlying ultrastructure is crucial for understanding cell-nanoparticle interactions in biological research. However, correlative nanoscale imaging of whole cells still remains a daunting challenge. Here, we report a straightforward nanoscopic approach for whole-cell correlative imaging, by simultaneous ionoluminescence and ultrastructure mapping implemented with a highly focused beam of alpha particles. We demonstrate that fluorescent nanodiamonds exhibit fast, ultrabright and stable emission upon excitation by alpha particles. Thus, by using fluorescent nanodiamonds as imaging probes, our approach enables quantification and correlative localization of single nanodiamonds within a whole cell at sub-30 nm resolution. As an application example, we show that our approach, together with Monte Carlo simulations and radiobiological experiments, can be employed to provide unique insights into the mechanisms of nanodiamond radiosensitization at the single whole-cell level. These findings may benefit clinical studies of radio-enhancement effects by nanoparticles in charged-particle cancer therapy.
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