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Fluorescent Nanodiamonds for Tracking Single Polymer Particles in Cells and Tissues
Summary
Scientists embedded fluorescent nanodiamond particles inside polymer nanoparticles to create a tracking label that does not bleach or blink, enabling long-term imaging of where plastic particles end up inside cells and liver tissue. This tool addresses a key challenge in microplastics research — reliably following individual particles through biological systems — and could improve understanding of how nanoplastics and drug-delivery nanoparticles are distributed and retained in the body.
Polymer nanoparticles are widely used in drug delivery and are also a potential concern due to the increased burden of nano- or microplastics in the environment. In order to use polymer nanoparticles safely and understand their mechanism of action, it is useful to know where within cells and tissues they end up. To this end, we labeled polymer nanoparticles with nanodiamond particles. More specifically, we have embedded nanodiamond particles in the polymer particles and characterized the composites. Compared to conventional fluorescent dyes, these labels have the advantage that nanodiamonds do not bleach or blink, thus allowing long-term imaging and tracking of polymer particles. We have demonstrated this principle both in cells and entire liver tissues.
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