Abstract
Gold nanoparticles are receiving considerable attention due to their novel properties and the potential variety of their uses. Long gold nanorods with dimensions of approximately 20 × 400 nm exhibit strong light scattering and can be easily observed under dark-field microscopy. Here we describe the use of this light-scattering property to track micrometer scale strains in collagen gels and thick films, which result from cell traction forces applied by neonatal heart fibroblasts. The use of such collagen constructs to model cell behavior in the extracellular matrix is common, and describing local mechanical environments on such a small scale is necessary to understand the complex factors associated with the remodeling of the collagen network. Unlike other particles used for tracking purposes, gold nanorods do not photobleach, allowing their optical signal to be tracked for longer periods of time, and they can be easily synthesized and coated with various charged or neutral shells, potentially reducing the effect of their presence on the cell system or allowing selective placement. Techniques described here are ultimately applicable for investigations with a wide variety of cells and cell environments.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Huang X, El-Sayed IH, Qian W, El-Sayed MA (2006) Cancer cell imaging and photothermal therapy in the near-infrared region by using gold nanorods. J Am Chem Soc 128(6):2115–2120
Paciotti GF, Myer L, Weinreich D, Goia D, Pavel N, McLaughlin RE, Tamarkin L (2004) Colloidal gold: a novel nanoparticle vector for tumor directed drug delivery. Drug Deliv 11(3):169–183
Hu X, Cheng W, Wang T, Wang Y, Wang E, Dong S (2005) Fabrication, characterization, and application in SERS of self-assembled polyelectrolyte−gold nanorod multilayered films. J Phys Chem B 109(41):19385–19389
Jain PK, Lee KS, El-Sayed IH, El-Sayed MA (2006) Calculated absorption and scattering properties of gold nanoparticles of different size, shape, and composition: applications in biological imaging and biomedicine. J Phys Chem B 110(14):7238–7248
Nath N, Chilkoti A (2002) A colorimetric gold nanoparticle sensor to interrogate biomolecular interactions in real time on a surface. Anal Chem 74(3):504–509
Murphy CJ, Gole AM, Hunyadi SE, Stone JW, Sisco PN, Alkilany A, Kinard BE, Hankins P (2008) Chemical sensing and imaging with metallic nanorods. Chem Commun 5:544
Kelly KL, Coronado E, Zhao LL, Schatz GC (2003) The optical properties of metal nanoparticles: the influence of size, shape, and dielectric environment. J Phys Chem B 107(3):668–677
Sosa IO, Noguez C, Barrera RG (2003) Optical properties of metal nanoparticles with arbitrary shapes. J Phys Chem B 107(26):6269–6275
Gole A, Murphy CJ (2005) Polyelectrolyte-coated gold nanorods: synthesis. Characterization and Immobilization. Chem Mater 17(6):1325–1330
Mandal TK, Fleming MS, Walt DR (2002) Preparation of polymer coated gold nanoparticles by surface-confined living radical polymerization at ambient temperature. Nano Lett 2(1):3–7
Durr NJ, Larson T, Smith DK, Korgel BA, Sokolov K, Ben-Yakar A (2007) Two-photon luminescence imaging of cancer cells using molecularly targeted gold nanorods. Nano Lett 7(4):941–945
Muir IFK (1998) Control of fibroblast activity in scars: a review. Eur J Plast Surg 21(1):1–7
Dallon JC, Ehrlich HP (2008) A review of fibroblast-populated collagen lattices. Wound Repair Regen 16(4):472–479
Manabe I, Shindo T, Nagai R (2002) Gene expression in fibroblasts and fibrosis: involvement in cardiac hypertrophy. Circ Res 91(12):1103–1113
Pedersen JA, Swartz MA (2005) Mechanobiology in the third dimension. Ann Biomed Eng 33(11):1469–1490
Wang JH, Lin J (2007) Cell traction force and measurement methods. Biomech Model Mechanobiol 6(6):361–371
Tseng Y, Kole TP, Wirtz D (2002) Micromechanical mapping of live cells by multiple-particle-tracking microrheology. Biophys J 83(6):3162–3176
Levi V (2005) 3-D particle tracking in a Two-photon microscope: application to the study of molecular dynamics in cells. Biophys J 88(4):2919–2928
Stone JW, Sisco PN, Goldsmith EC, Baxter SC, Murphy CJ (2007) Using gold nanorods to probe cell-induced collagen deformation. Nano Lett 7(1):116–119
Vanni S, Christoffer Lagerholm B, Otey C, Lansing Taylor D, Lanni F (2003) Internet-based image analysis quantifies contractile behavior of individual fibroblasts inside model tissue. Biophys J 84(4):2715–2727
Schultz S, Smith DR, Mock JJ, Schultz DA (2000) Single-target molecule detection with nonbleaching multicolor optical immunolabels. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 97(3):996–1001
Jana NR, Gearheart L, Murphy CJ (2001) Wet chemical synthesis of high aspect ratio cylindrical gold nanorods. J Phys Chem B 105(19):4065–4067
Busbee BD, Obare SO, Murphy CJ (2003) An improved synthesis of high-aspect ratio gold nanorods. Adv Mater 15(5):414–416
Liu G-SP (2005) Mechanism of silver(I)-assisted growth of gold nanorods and bipyramids. J Phys Chem B 109(47):22192–22200
Kim F, Song JH, Yang P (2002) Photochemical synthesis of gold nanorods. J Am Chem Soc 124(48):14316–14317
Zitova B (2003) Image registration methods: a survey. Image and Vision Computing 21(11):977–1000
Wilson CG, Sisco PN, Gadala-Maria FA, Murphy CJ, Goldsmith EC (2009) Polyelectrolyte-coated gold nanorods and their interactions with type I collagen. Biomaterials 30(29):5639–5648
Sisco PN, Wilson CG, Mironova E, Baxter SC, Murphy CJ, Goldsmith EC (2008) The effect of gold nanorods on cell-mediated collagen remodeling. Nano Lett 8(10):3409–3412
Brown LG (1992) A survey of image registration techniques. ACM Comput Surv 24(4):325–376
Wang N, Ostuni E, Whitesides GM, Ingber DE (2002) Micropatterning tractional forces in living cells. Cell Motil Cytoskeleton 52(2):97–106
Butler JP, Tolic-Norrelykke IM, Fabry B, Fredberg JJ (2002) Traction fields, moments, and strain energy that cells exert on their surroundings. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 282(3):C595–C605
Tolic-Nørrelykke IM, Wang N (2005) Traction in smooth muscle cells varies with cell spreading. J Biomech 38(7):1405–1412
Sutton M, Wolters W, Peters W, Ranson W, McNeill S (1983) Determination of displacements using an improved digital correlation method. Image and Vision Computing 1(3):133–139
Sutton M, Mingqi C, Peters W, Chao Y, McNeill S (1986) Application of an optimized digital correlation method to planar deformation analysis. Image and Vision Computing 4(3):143–150
Sutton MA, Ortwu J-J, Schreir, H (2009) Image correlation for shape, motion and deformation measurements; basic concepts, theory and applications. Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Chernak, D.J., Sisco, P.N., Goldsmith, E.C., Baxter, S.C., Murphy, C.J. (2013). High-Aspect-Ratio Gold Nanorods: Their Synthesis and Application to Image Cell-Induced Strain Fields in Collagen Films. In: Rosenthal, S., Wright, D. (eds) NanoBiotechnology Protocols. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1026. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-468-5_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-468-5_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-62703-467-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-468-5
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols