RT Journal Article
T1 Laser-induced remote release in vivo in C. elegans from novel silver nanoparticles-alginate hydrogel shells
A1 Lengert, Ekaterina
A1 Parakhonskiy, B.
A1 Khalenkow, D.
A1 Zecic, Aleksandra
A1 Vangheel, Matthew
A1 Monje, José Manuel
A1 Braeckman, B.P.
A1 Skirtach, A.G.
K1 Caenorhabditis elegans
K1 Nanoparticles
AB Non-destructive, controllable, remote light-induced release inside cells enables studying time- and space-specific processes in biology. In this work we demonstrate the remote release of tagged proteins in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) worms using a near-infrared laser light as a trigger from novel hydrogel shells functionalized with silver nanoparticles responsive to laser light. A new type of hydrogel shells was developed capable of withstanding prolonged storage in the lyophilized state to enable the uptake of the shell by worms, which takes place on an agar plate under standard culture conditions. Uptake of the shells by C. elegans was confirmed using confocal laser scanning microscopy, while release from alginate shells in C. elegans and the laser effect on the shells on a substrate in air was followed using fluorescence microscopy. In addition, Raman microscopy was used to track the localization of particles to avoid the influence of autofluorescence. Hierarchical cluster spectral analysis is used to extract information about the biochemical composition of an area of a nematode containing the hydrogel shells, whose Raman signal is enhanced by the SERS (Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering) effect due to hot spots formed by silver nanoparticles present in the shells. The in vivo release demonstrated here can be used to study intestinal microbiota and probiotic compounds as well as a possible future strategy for gene delivery in the worms, other insects and other organisms.
PB Royal Society of Chemistry
YR 2018
FD 2018
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10433/23794
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10433/23794
LA en
NO Nanoscale, 2018, DOI: 10.1039/C8NR00893K.
NO We acknowledge support by BOF UGent and the Era-Net Rus Plus program in the framework of the project “Fabrication and investigation of new hybrid scaffolds with the controlled porous hierarchy for bone tissue engineering” (Intelbiocomp). B.P. acknowledges the FWO (Vlaanderen). E.L. acknowledges scholarships of the President of the Russian Federation on training abroad in the 2016/2017 academic year.
NO Department of Nano- and Biomedical Technologies, Saratov State University
NO Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Ghent University
NO Department of Biology, Laboratory of Aging Physiology and Molecular Evolution, Ghent University
DS RIO
RD May 24, 2026