Mass imaging of iron oxide nanoparticles inside cells for in vitro cytotoxicity

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) imaging analysis was performed on murine macrophage cells treated with various concentrations of iron oxide (Fe ₃O ₄) nanoparticles, which are used as MRI contrast agents. First, murine macrophage cells were seeded on a slide glass for 24 hrs and treated with varying concentrations of Fe ₃O ₄ nanoparticles for 24 hrs. To expose a cross section of each cell and obtain a distribution of the nanoparticles inside the cells, the cells were sputtered using Bi ions after which the cross section of each cell was scanned and imaged using the focused cluster ion beam with a spatial resolution of 300 nm. Fe ₃O ₄ nanoparticles were found mainly in the cytoplasm region of the cells, not in the nucleus region of cells, suggesting that the uptake of the Fe ₃O ₄ nanoparticles were into the cytoplasm of cell, not into the nucleus of cell. Based on these observations, our protocol using mass imaging analysis would be a useful addition to the study of in vitro nanoparticle cytotoxicity.