Real-time intracellular temperature imaging using lanthanide-bearing polymeric micelles

• Main Author: Piñol, Rafael
• Publication Date: 2020
• Other Authors: Zeler, Justyna, Brites, Carlos D. S., Gu, Yuanyu, Téllez, Pedro, Carneiro Neto, Albano N., da Silva, Thiago E., Moreno-Loshuertos, Raquel, Fernandez-Silva, Patrício, Gallego, Ana Isabel, Martinez-Lostao, Luis, Martínez, Abelardo, Carlos, Luís D., Millán, Angel
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/29287
• topic: Intracellular temperature mapping; Luminescence thermometry; Lanthanide-based polymer nanomicelles; Thermogenesis

Measurement of thermogenesis in individual cells is a remarkable challenge due to the complexity of the biochemical environment (such as pH and ionic strength) and to the rapid and yet not well-understood heat transfer mechanisms throughout the cell. Here, we present a unique system for intracellular temperature mapping in a fluorescence microscope (uncertainty of 0.2 K) using rationally designed luminescent Ln3+-bearing polymeric micellar probes (Ln = Sm, Eu) incubated in breast cancer MDA-MB468 cells. Two-dimensional (2D) thermal images recorded increasing the temperature of the cells culture medium between 296 and 304 K shows inhomogeneous intracellular temperature progressions up to ∼20 degrees and subcellular gradients of ∼5 degrees between the nucleolus and the rest of the cell, illustrating the thermogenic activity of the different organelles and highlighting the potential of this tool to study intracellular processes.