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

Serpell, C.J., Rutte, R.N., Geraki, K., Pach, E., Martincic, M., Kierkowicz, M., De Munari, S., Wals, K., Raj, R., Ballesteros, B., and others. (2016) Carbon nanotubes allow capture of krypton, barium and lead for multichannel biological X-ray fluorescence imaging. Nature Communications, 7 . Article Number 13118. ISSN 2041-1723. (doi:10.1038/ncomms13118) (KAR id:58527)

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.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1038/ncomms13118
Subjects: Q Science > QD Chemistry
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Physics and Astronomy
Depositing User: Christopher Serpell
Date Deposited: 10 Nov 2016 13:47 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 15:38 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/58527 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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