title: Quantitative chemical imaging of the intracellular spatial distribution of fundamental elements and light metals in single cells.
abstract: We report a method that allows a complete quantitative characterization of whole single cells, assessing the total amount of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sodium, and magnesium and providing submicrometer maps of element molar concentration, cell density, mass, and volume. This approach allows quantifying elements down to 10(6) atoms/μm(3). This result was obtained by applying a multimodal fusion approach that combines synchrotron radiation microscopy techniques with off-line atomic force microscopy. The method proposed permits us to find the element concentration in addition to the mass fraction and provides a deeper and more complete knowledge of cell composition. We performed measurements on LoVo human colon cancer cells sensitive (LoVo-S) and resistant (LoVo-R) to doxorubicin. The comparison of LoVo-S and LoVo-R revealed different patterns in the maps of Mg concentration with higher values within the nucleus in LoVo-R and in the perinuclear region in LoVo-S cells. This feature was not so evident for the other elements, suggesting that Mg compartmentalization could be a significant trait of the drug-resistant cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna , Bologna 40127, Italy.
authors.forename: Emil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Malucelli
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iotti
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gianoncelli
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fratini
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Merolle
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Notargiacomo
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marraccini
authors.forename: Azzurra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sargenti
authors.forename: Concettina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cappadone
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Farruggia
authors.forename: Inna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bukreeva
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lombardo
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trombini
authors.forename: Jeanette A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lagomarsino
mesh_terms: D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D002477:Cells / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D004602:Elements; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D019565:Metals, Light / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force
chemical_list: D004602:Elements; D019565:Metals, Light