Use of magnetic nanoparticles to visualize threadlike structures inside lymphatic vessels of rats.
A novel application of fluorescent magnetic nanoparticles was made to visualize a new tissue which had not been detectable by using simple stereomicroscopes. This unfamiliar threadlike structure inside the lymphatic vessels of rats was demonstrated in vivo by injecting nanoparticles into lymph nodes and applying magnetic fields on the collecting lymph vessels so that the nanoparticles were taken up by the threadlike structures. Confocal laser scanning microscope images of cryosectioned specimens exhibited that the nanoparticles were absorbed more strongly by the threadlike structure than by the lymphatic vessels. Further examination using a transmission electron microscope revealed that the nanoparticles had been captured between the reticular fibers in the extracellular matrix of the threadlike structures. The emerging technology of nanoparticles not only allows the extremely elusive threadlike structures to be visualized but also is expected to provide a magnetically controllable means to investigate their physiological functions.
Johng
Hyeon-Min
HM
Biomedical Physics Laboratory, FPRD School of Physics and Astronomy, Materials Chemistry Laboratory School of Chemistry and Research Institute of Basic Sciences Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Yoo
Jung Sun
JS
Yoon
Tae-Jong
TJ
Shin
Hak-Soo
HS
Lee
Byung-Cheon
BC
Lee
Changhoon
C
Lee
Jin-Kyu
JK
Soh
Kwang-Sup
KS