Plasmonic metal nanomaterials are promising candidates for future theranostic platforms that are in various stages of translation from the benchtop to clinical use. They are typically administered intravenously and, therefore, immediately encounter blood�an extremely complex fluid with many active components. These components may cause aggregation or dissolution of the particles, thus changing their properties. Determining a material's response to blood is crucial, particularly from a regulatory standpoint, to the development of new, clinically available materials. Most commonly-used characterization methods have limited capabilities for monitoring the status of NPs in situ following their introduction to the blood. In this study, a new methodology is developed to reveal the changes of spherical Au and Ag nanoparticles in complex biological solutions (e.g. blood) using reflectance hyperspectral imaging coupled with Raman spectroscopy. The aggregation of the NPs is monitored based on the changes of the optical resonance of the particles by hyperspectral imaging. These results are further correlated with the Raman enhancement of the protein adsorbed on the NPs. Using this method, the fate of the citrate-capped gold NPs in the blood is examined and compared with that of the silver NPs, and little aggregation was observed for either sample. Some particle aggregation is observed following uptake and sequestration in endosomes of macrophages, but the NPs generally remained nonaggregated. The methodology is adaptable to a wide range of materials of varying shapes, compositions, and functions.

Detection of nanoparticle aggregation in complex, biological environments

247th National Meeting (2014)

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