Visualization of the interaction of nanoparticles with biological cells by AFM

Abstract

In the last decade, the interest to the interaction of nanoparticles with biological cells is increased. The most promising and little studied area of nanoparticles application is medicine. Due to the unique properties nanoparticles of silver, zinc, copper and others are used against certain viruses, for the treatment of burns, destruction of tumor cells, as a part of the drugs delivering system to some organ. It is known that nanoparticles can have an impact on the functional state of the cells. One method that can be used to assess the state of the cells is an atomic force microscopy (AFM). ACM can not only visualize, but to assess the changes in the mechanical characteristics of the objects. There are many modern techniques for the visualization of biological microorganisms. Atomic force microscopy was chosen because it allows you to get a true three-dimensional surface topography and does not require complex sample preparation. Further investigation using the dynamic mode AFM allows to obtain sample microtomography. This mode allows you to automatically obtain a set of bundle AFM images of the same area at different values of the load applied to the scanning process. This study demonstrated approach for visualizing the interaction of nanoparticles with the cell and its internal structure by micromechanical destructive impact.