pH Sensitive Dextran Coated Fluorescent Nanodiamonds as a Biomarker for HeLa Cells Endocytic Pathway and Increased Cellular Uptake

Abstract

Fluorescent nanodiamonds are a useful for biosensing of intracellular signaling networks or environmental changes (such as temperature, pH or free radical generation). HeLa cells are interesting to study with these nanodiamonds since they are a model cell system that is widely used to study cancer-related diseases. However, they only internalize low numbers of nanodiamond particles very slowly via the endocytosis pathway. In this work, we show that pH-sensitive, dextran-coated fluorescent nanodiamonds can be used to visualise this pathway. Additionally, this coating improved diamond uptake in HeLa cells by 5.3 times (*** p < 0.0001) and decreased the required time for uptake to only 30 min. We demonstrated further that nanodiamonds enter HeLa cells via endolysosomes and are eventually expelled by cells.

Fluorescent Nanodiamonds for Tracking Single Polymer Particles in Cells and Tissues

“…It is also possible that a small part of the FNDs escaped from endosomes into the cytoplasm but did not translocate into lysosomes. Similar cases have been reported in some studies. , …”

“…Similar cases have been reported in some studies. 40,41 For the PLA-FND group, the colocalization proportion of PLA-FNDs internalized at early endosomes is similar to FNDs. But, unlike FNDs, the proportion of PLA-FNDs colocalized with late endosomes or lysosomes, and LMAP-1 marked decreases significantly with incubation time.…”

Fluorescent nanodiamonds as innovative delivery systems for MiR-34a replacement in breast cancer

“…Recently, it was shown that only a modest number of ND enter through the endocytosis pathway; in fact, fluorescent ND can be also internalized via endolysosomes and finally excreted from the cells. 49 We have performed clonogenic and wound healing assays to verify the anti-cancer efficacy of our strategy. Colony analysis after treatment with ND-PEI-miR-34a showed a decrease in the tumorigenic potential of breast cancer cell lines if compared with the controls.…”

Production, surface modification, physicochemical properties, biocompatibility, and bioimaging applications of nanodiamonds

“…They demonstrated cell internalization of NDs through fluorescence imaging of NV centers of NDs. 168…”