Exogenous control over intracellular acidification: Enhancement via proton caged compounds coupled to gold nanoparticles

Marilena Carbone; Gianfranco Sabbatella; Simonetta Antonaroli; Hynd Remita; Viviana Orlando; Stefano Biagioni; Alessandro Nucara

doi:10.1016/j.bbagen.2015.07.011

Exogenous control over intracellular acidification: Enhancement via proton caged compounds coupled to gold nanoparticles

Biochim Biophys Acta. 2015 Nov;1850(11):2304-7. doi: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2015.07.011. Epub 2015 Jul 31.

Authors

Marilena Carbone¹, Gianfranco Sabbatella², Simonetta Antonaroli³, Hynd Remita⁴, Viviana Orlando⁵, Stefano Biagioni⁵, Alessandro Nucara⁶

Affiliations

¹ Dept. of Chemical Sciences and Technologies, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 1-00133 Rome, Italy; Consorzio Interuniversitario Biostrutture e Biosistemi, Viale Medaglie d'Oro 305, 00136 Rome, Italy.
² Dept. of Chemical Sciences and Technologies, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 1-00133 Rome, Italy; Dept. of Chemistry, University of Rome La Sapienza, P.le A. Moro, 00185 Rome, Italy.
³ Dept. of Chemical Sciences and Technologies, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 1-00133 Rome, Italy.
⁴ Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, UMR 8000-CNRS, Bât. 349, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France.
⁵ Dept. of Biology and Biotechnology "Charles Darwin", University of Rome La Sapienza, P.le A. Moro, 00185 Rome, Italy.
⁶ Dept. of Physics, University of Rome La Sapienza, P.le A. Moro, 00185 Rome, Italy; Center for Life Nano Science, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy.

PMID: 26235337
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2015.07.011

Abstract

The pH regulation has a fundamental role in several intracellular processes and its variation via exogenous compounds is a potential tool for intervening in the intracellular processes. Proton caged compounds (PPCs) release protons upon UV irradiation and may efficiently provoke intracellular on-command acidification. Here, we explore the intracellular pH variation, when purposely synthesized PCCs are coupled to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and dosed to HEK-293 cells. We detected the acidification process caused by the UV irradiation by monitoring the intensity of the asymmetric stretching mode of the CO(2) molecule at 2343 cm(-1). The comparison between free and AuNPs functionalized proton caged compound demonstrates a highly enhanced CO(2) yield, hence pH variation, in the latter case. Finally, PCC functionalized AuNPs were marked with a purposely synthesized fluorescent marker and dosed to HEK-293 cells. The corresponding fluorescence optical images show green grains throughout the whole cytoplasm.

Keywords: Gold nanoparticles; Intracellular acidification; Proton caged compounds; pH monitoring.

MeSH terms

Fluorescence
Gold / chemistry*
HEK293 Cells
Humans
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry*
Protons*

Substances

Protons
Gold