Photonic Data Science

Metal oxide nanoparticles (NP) are applied in the fields of biomedicine, pharmaceutics, and in consumer products as textiles, cosmetics, paints, or fuels. In this context, the functionalization of the NP surface is a common method to modify and modulate the product performance. A chemical surface modification of NP such as an aminofunctionalization can be used to achieve a positively chargedand hydrophobic surface. Surface functionalization is known to affect the interaction of nanomaterials (NM) with cellular macromolecules and the responses of tissues or cells, like the uptake of particles by phagocytic cells. Therefore, it is important to assess the possible risk of those modified NP for human hea l t h and environment . By appl y i n g Raman microspectroscopy, we verified in situ the interaction of amino-modified ZrO2 NP with cultivated macrophages. The results demonstrated strong adhesion properties of the NP to the cell membrane and internalization into the cells. The intra cellular localization of the NP was visualized via Raman depth scans of single cells. After the cells were treated with sodiumazide (NaN3) and 2-deoxy-glucose to inhibit the phagocytic activity, NP were still detected inside cells to comparable percentages. The observed tendency of amino-modified ZrO2 NP to interact with the cultivated macrophages may influence membrane integrity and cellular functions of alveolar macrophages in the respiratory system.