Plasmonic nanorod probes’ journey inside plant cells for in vivo SERS sensing and multimodal imaging

Journal Article · Thu Mar 30 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Nanoscale

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/D2NR06235F· OSTI ID:1970519

Cupil-Garcia, Vanessa; Li, Joy Q.; Norton, Stephen J.; Odion, Ren A.; Strobbia, Pierto; Menozzi, Luca; Ma, Chenshuo; Hu, Jianhong; Zentella, Rodolfo; Boyanov, Maxim I.; Finfrock, Y. Zou; Kemner, Kenneth M.; Vo-Dinh, Tuan

Nanoparticle-based platforms are gaining strong interest in plant biology and bioenergy research to monitor and control biological processes in whole plants. However, in vivo monitoring of biomolecules using nanoparticles inside plant cells remains challenging due to the impenetrability of the plant cell wall to nanoparticles beyond the exclusion limits (5-20 nm). To overcome this physical barrier, we have designed unique bimetallic silver-coated gold nanorods (AuNR@Ag) capable of entering plant cells, while conserving key plasmonic properties in the near-infrared (NIR). To demonstrate cellular internalization and tracking of the nanorods inside plant tissue, we used a comprehensive multimodal imaging approach that included transmission electron microscopy (TEM), confocal fluorescence microscopy, two-photon luminescence (TPL), X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XRF), and photoacoustics imaging (PAI). We successfully acquired SERS signals of nanorods in vivo inside plant cells of tobacco leaves. On the same leaf samples, we applied orthogonal imaging methods, TPL and PAI techniques for in vivo imaging of the nanorods. This study first demonstrates the intracellular internalization of AuNR@Ag inside whole plant systems for in vivo SERS analysis in tobacco cells. This work demonstrates the potential of this nanoplatform as a new nanotool for intracellular in vivo biosensing for plant biology.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science - Office of Biological and Environmental Research; Canadian Light Source, Inc.; Materials Research Collaborative Access Team (MRCAT); EnviroCAT; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science - Office of Basic Energy Sciences - Scientific User Facilities Division; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1970519
• Journal Information: Nanoscale, Vol. 15, Issue 13
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English