Probing Nanoparticle–Cell Interaction Using Micro-Raman Spectroscopy: Silver and Gold Nanoparticle-Induced Stress Effects on Optically Trapped Live Red Blood Cells

Abstract

Advancements in the field of nanotechnology have resulted in the emergence of a large variety of engineered nanomaterials for innumerable applications. Despite the ubiquitous use of nanomaterials in daily life, concerns regarding the potential toxicity and safety of these materials have also been raised. There is a high demand for assessing the unwanted effects of both gold and silver nanoparticles, which is increasingly being used in biomedical applications. This paper deals with the study of stress due to silver and gold nanoparticles of varying size on red blood cells (RBCs) using Raman tweezers spectroscopy. RBCs were incubated with nanoparticles of size in the 10−100 nm range with the same concentrations, and micro-Raman spectra were recorded by optically trapping the nanoparticle-treated live RBCs. Spectral modifications implicating hemoglobin deoxygenation were observed in all nanoparticle-treated RBCs. One of the probable reason for the deoxygenation trend can be the adhesion of nanoparticles onto the cell surface causing imbalance in cell functioning. Moreover, the higher spectral variations observed for silver nanoparticles indicate that oxidative stress is involved in cell damage. These mechanisms lead to the modification in the hemoglobin structure because of changes in the pH of cytoplasm, which can be detected using Raman spectroscopy.

Optical Trap Combined with Raman Spectroscopy to Probe Red Blood Cell Behaviour in Certain Intravenous Fluids

“…In brief, Raman Tweezers have shown high potential in studying the exogenous agent's interaction with red blood cells. Both silver and gold nanoparticles induce oxidative stress has been studied in detail using this technique [32]. Normal Saline induced deoxygenation of red blood cells was also reported [33].…”

Preparation of Serum Capped Silver Nanoparticles for Selective Killing of Microbial Cells Sparing Host Cells

“…This may explain dosedependent hemolysis by polyvinyl pyrrolidone and citrate capped AgNPs 21 with the observation of ROS mediated membrane lipid damage 22 , leading to hemolysis 23 . If such nanoparticles target non nucleated human RBCs 24 devoid of most cytoplasmic organelle and release sufficient free Ag 0 or ROS into circulation before attachment with target microbes, may also cause many unpredictable adverse effects to other cells of the host. For this reason, we recommend the use of matched serum preferably with antibody of specific infection.…”

Human red blood cell behaviour in hydroxyethyl starch: probed by single cell spectroscopy

“…The instrument employed in the work has been already explained in the previous literature. 19 Baseline correction as well as normalization of Raman spectra aer smoothing was performed in MATLAB via vector normalization method. The picture of RBC before and under optical trap is provided in the inset of Fig.…”

“…Nanoparticle induced stress on human red blood cells has been investigated using Raman Tweezers and observed an increased adverse effects in silver nanoparticles as compared to gold nanoparticles. 19 Raman Tweezers technique is proven as the best technique for the investigation of the oxygenation state of red blood cells and malaria infected cells were found to have reduced oxygen affinity. 20 Researchers have performed blood grouping, where Raman Tweezers analysis combined with statistical models were able to discriminate AB group from other blood groups with 100% accuracy.…”