Single–particle analysis using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry offers a new tool for the characterisation of inorganic nanoparticles. Its development is connected with new generations of ultrafast spectrometers. This work is concerned with thorough investigation of parameters affecting the quality of the analysis of Ag nanoparticles, i.e., nanoparticle stability, transport efficiency and sensitivity of determination. The short-term stability of Ag nanoparticles in demineralised water can be prolonged to at least 7 h by the addition of 0.05% gelatin. The sensitivity was affected by plasma power and the nebuliser Ar flow. The transport efficiency decreased with increasing sample uptake, so a compromise between the efficiency and the total number of particles entering the spectrometer should be selected. The estimate of transport efficiency is distorted when more concentrated dispersions of nanoparticles are analysed because of the overlapping of signals of multiple nanoparticles. This effect was observed for dispersions of concentration greater than 1 × 10⁶ mL⁻¹ where an apparent decrease in transport efficiency from an initial value 7–8% to 1% was observed. The following parameters were found by method validation: concentration limit of detection of 97 mL⁻¹, nanoparticle diameter limit of detection 15 nm, linearity from 20 to at least 100 nm and repeatability of 1.3%. After validation, the method was applied to determine Ag nanoparticles in river water from the Vltava in Prague. Nanoparticles with diameters of 32–114 nm were found, and their number concentration increased from 340 mL⁻¹ to 1670 mL⁻¹ as the stream of water passed through urban agglomeration.

Upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) are of particular interest in nanomedicine for in vivo deep-tissue optical cancer bioimaging due to their efficient cellular uptake dependent on polymer coating. In this study, particles, ca. 25 nm in diameter, were prepared by a high-temperature coprecipitation of lanthanide chlorides. To ensure optimal dispersion of UCNPs in aqueous milieu, they were coated with three different polymers containing reactive groups, i.e., poly(ethylene glycol)-alendronate (PEG-Ale), poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide-co-2-aminoethylacrylamide)-alendronate (PDMA-Ale), and poly(methyl vinyl ether-co-maleic acid) (PMVEMA). All the particles were characterized by TEM, DLS, FTIR, and spectrofluorometer to determine the morphology, hydrodynamic size and ξ-potential, composition, and upconversion luminescence. The degradability/dissolution of UCNPs in water, PBS, DMEM, or artificial lysosomal fluid (ALF) was evaluated using an ion-selective electrochemical method and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The dissolution that was more pronounced in PBS at elevated temperatures was decelerated by polymer coatings. The dissolution in DMEM was relatively small, but much more pronounced in ALF. PMVEMA with multiple anchoring groups provided better protection against particle dissolution in PBS than PEG-Ale and PDMA-Ale polymers containing only one reactive group. However, the cytotoxicity of the particles depended not only on their ability to rapidly degrade, but also on the type of coating. According to MTT, neat UCNPs and UCNP@PMVEMA were toxic for both rat cells (C6) and rat mesenchymal stem cells (rMSCs), which was in contrast to the UCNP@Ale-PDMA particles that were biocompatible. On the other hand, both the cytotoxicity and uptake of the UCNP@Ale-PEG particles by C6 and rMSCs were low, according to MTT assay and ICP-MS, respectively. This was confirmed by a confocal microscopy, where the neat UCNPs were preferentially internalized by both cell types, followed by the UCNP@PMVEMA, UCNP@Ale-PDMA, and UCNP@Ale-PEG particles. This study provides guidance for the selection of a suitable nanoparticle coating with respect to future biomedical applications where specific behaviors (extracellular deposition vs. cell internalization) are expected.

The effect of magnetic nanoparticles on neuronal differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural precursors Klára Jiráková,1 Monika Šeneklová,1,2 Daniel Jirák,3,4 Karolína Turnovcová,1 Magda Vosmanská,5 Michal Babič,6 Daniel Horák,6 Pavel Veverka,7 Pavla Jendelová1,2 1Department of Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 2Department of Neuroscience, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, 3MR-Unit, Radiodiagnostic and Interventional Radiology Department, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, 4Department of Biophysics, Institute of Biophysics and Informatics, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, 5Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Chemistry and Technology, 6Department of Polymer Particles, Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 7Department of Magnetics and Superconductors, Institute of Physics, ASCR, Prague, Czech Republic Introduction: Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is suitable for noninvasive long-term tracking. We labeled human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural precursors (iPSC-NPs) with two types of iron-based nanoparticles, silica-coated cobalt zinc ferrite nanoparticles (CZF) and poly-l-lysine-coated iron oxide superparamagnetic nanoparticles (PLL-coated γ-Fe2O3) and studied their effect on proliferation and neuronal differentiation. Materials and methods: We investigated the effect of these two contrast agents on neural precursor cell proliferation and differentiation capability. We further defined the intracellular localization and labeling efficiency and analyzed labeled cells by MR. Results: Cell proliferation was not affected by PLL-coated γ-Fe2O3 but was slowed down in cells labeled with CZF. Labeling efficiency, iron content and relaxation rates measured by MR were lower in cells labeled with CZF when compared to PLL-coated γ-Fe2O3. Cytoplasmic localization of both types of nanoparticles was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Flow cytometry and immunocytochemical analysis of specific markers expressed during neuronal differentiation did not show any significant differences between unlabeled cells or cells labeled with both magnetic nanoparticles. Conclusion: Our results show that cells labeled with PLL-coated γ-Fe2O3 are suitable for MR detection, did not affect the differentiation potential of iPSC-NPs and are suitable for in vivo cell therapies in experimental models of central nervous system disorders. Keywords: neural precursors, magnetic resonance imaging, cell differentiation, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, ferrites

Nanomaterials are currently the subject of intense research due to their wide variety of potential applications in the biomedical, optical and electronic fields. We prepared and tested cobalt zinc ferrite nanoparticles (Co_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O_4+γ [CZF-NPs]) encapsulated by amorphous silica in order to find a safe contrast agent and magnetic label for tracking transplanted cells within an organism using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Rat mesenchymal stem cells (rMSCs) were labeled for 48 h with a low, medium or high dose of CZF-NPs (0.05; 0.11 or 0.55 mM); silica NPs (Si-NPs; 0.11 mM) served as a positive control. The internalization of NPs into cells was verified by transmission electron microscopy. Biological effects were analyzed at the end of exposure and after an additional 72 h of cell growth without NPs. Compared to untreated cells, Annexin V/Propidium Iodide labeling revealed no significant cytotoxicity for any group of treated cells and only a high dose of CZF-NPs slowed down cell proliferation and induced DNA damage, manifested as a significant increase of DNA-strand breaks and oxidized DNA bases. This was accompanied by high concentrations of 15-F_2t-isoprostane and carbonyl groups, demonstrating oxidative injury to lipids and proteins, respectively. No harmful effects were detected in cells exposed to the low dose of CZF-NPs. Nevertheless, the labeled cells still exhibited an adequate relaxation rate for MRI in repeated experiments and ICP-MS confirmed sufficient magnetic label concentrations inside the cells. The results suggest that the silica-coated CZF-NPs, when applied at a non-toxic dose, represent a promising contrast agent for cell labeling.