scholarly journals Abstract P-35: Cryo-Electron Tomography of Protein Conjugated Upconverting Nanophosphors

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (Suppl_1) ◽  
pp. S27-S27
Author(s):  
Vyacheslav Kralin ◽  
Anton Orekhov ◽  
Roman Kamyshinsky ◽  
Yury Chesnokov ◽  
Polina Demina

Background: Over the past decades, significant advances have been made in the field of creating nanobioreagents for solving modern medicine problems (Grebenik et al., JBO, 2013). However, the problem of their low accumulation rate in pathological tissue in vivo experiments still remains. First of all, it is associated with the adsorption of blood proteins on the surface of nanobioreagents and the protein layer formation, which significantly changes the surface properties, which leads to their rapid excretion by the reticuloendothelial system. In particular, it is possible to reduce the blood plasma proteins adsorption and increase the time spent in the circulatory system by forming a coating of proteins. Methods: In situ cryоelectron tomography (Cryo-ET) is the only method that allows the experimental observation of protein structures on the nanoparticle’s surface in their natural functional state. The basic principle of the method is to obtain a series of projections of a vitrified sample thin lamella at different tilt angles related to an incident electron beam. Their further processing leads to obtaining the volumetric information about the structure of the sample. The use of a cryo-focused ion beam (Cryo-FIB) in specimen thinning makes it possible to carry out experiments with thin sections of cellular structures and observe the penetration of nanoparticles into the intracellular environment. Results: Upconverting nanophosphors (AN) were used as a nanoplatform for creating a protein coating. To create a protein coating on the AN surface, they were functionalized using an amphiphilic polymer containing carboxyl groups. Then, conjugation with protein molecules from the class of immunoglobulins was carried out by the method of carbodiimide activation. At each stage of synthesis and modification, AN solutions with different size distribution were vitrified for subsequent tomography. After a series of experiments to study the morphology of nanoparticles, an experiment on their successful absorption by cells of the cancer line A549 was carried out. Conclusion: Within this work, a series of in situ Cryo-ET methods were proposed and applied for structural characterization and visualization of the processes of synthesis, modification, and engulfment of nanoparticles into cellular systems. For the first time in its native form, the engulfment of ANF into the internal environment of the A549 cancer line cells was demonstrated.

Author(s):  
J. S. Maa ◽  
Thos. E. Hutchinson

The growth of Ag films deposited on various substrate materials such as MoS2, mica, graphite, and MgO has been investigated extensively using the in situ electron microscopy technique. The three stages of film growth, namely, the nucleation, growth of islands followed by liquid-like coalescence have been observed in both the vacuum vapor deposited and ion beam sputtered thin films. The mechanisms of nucleation and growth of silver films formed by ion beam sputtering on the (111) plane of silicon comprise the subject of this paper. A novel mode of epitaxial growth is observed to that seen previously.The experimental arrangement for the present study is the same as previous experiments, and the preparation procedure for obtaining thin silicon substrate is presented in a separate paper.


Author(s):  
Dudley M. Sherman ◽  
Thos. E. Hutchinson

The in situ electron microscope technique has been shown to be a powerful method for investigating the nucleation and growth of thin films formed by vacuum vapor deposition. The nucleation and early stages of growth of metal deposits formed by ion beam sputter-deposition are now being studied by the in situ technique.A duoplasmatron ion source and lens assembly has been attached to one side of the universal chamber of an RCA EMU-4 microscope and a sputtering target inserted into the chamber from the opposite side. The material to be deposited, in disc form, is bonded to the end of an electrically isolated copper rod that has provisions for target water cooling. The ion beam is normal to the microscope electron beam and the target is placed adjacent to the electron beam above the specimen hot stage, as shown in Figure 1.


Author(s):  
S. Q. Xiao ◽  
S. Baden ◽  
A. H. Heuer

The avian eggshell is one of the most rapidly mineralizing biological systems known. In situ, 5g of calcium carbonate are crystallized in less than 20 hrs to fabricate the shell. Although there have been much work about the formation of eggshells, controversy about the nucleation and growth mechanisms of the calcite crystals, and their texture in the eggshell, still remain unclear. In this report the microstructure and microchemistry of avian eggshells have been analyzed using transmission electron microscope (TEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS).Fresh white and dry brown eggshells were broken and fixed in Karnosky's fixative (kaltitanden) for 2 hrs, then rinsed in distilled H2O. Small speckles of the eggshells were embedded in Spurr medium and thin sections were made ultramicrotome.The crystalline part of eggshells are composed of many small plate-like calcite grains, whose plate normals are approximately parallel to the shell surface. The sizes of the grains are about 0.3×0.3×1 μm3 (Fig.l). These grains are not as closely packed as man-made polycrystalline metals and ceramics, and small gaps between adjacent grains are visible indicating the absence of conventional grain boundaries.


Author(s):  
Jun Liu ◽  
Katie E. Gunnison ◽  
Mehmet Sarikaya ◽  
Ilhan A. Aksay

The interfacial structure between the organic and inorganic phases in biological hard tissues plays an important role in controlling the growth and the mechanical properties of these materials. The objective of this work was to investigate these interfaces in nacre by transmission electron microscopy. The nacreous section of several different seashells -- abalone, pearl oyster, and nautilus -- were studied. Nacre is a laminated composite material consisting of CaCO3 platelets (constituting > 90 vol.% of the overall composite) separated by a thin organic matrix. Nacre is of interest to biomimetics because of its highly ordered structure and a good combination of mechanical properties. In this study, electron transparent thin sections were prepared by a low-temperature ion-beam milling procedure and by ultramicrotomy. To reveal structures in the organic layers as well as in the interfacial region, samples were further subjected to chemical fixation and labeling, or chemical etching. All experiments were performed with a Philips 430T TEM/STEM at 300 keV with a liquid Nitrogen sample holder.


Author(s):  
Charles W. Allen ◽  
Robert C. Birtcher

The uranium silicides, including U3Si, are under study as candidate low enrichment nuclear fuels. Ion beam simulations of the in-reactor behavior of such materials are performed because a similar damage structure can be produced in hours by energetic heavy ions which requires years in actual reactor tests. This contribution treats one aspect of the microstructural behavior of U3Si under high energy electron irradiation and low dose energetic heavy ion irradiation and is based on in situ experiments, performed at the HVEM-Tandem User Facility at Argonne National Laboratory. This Facility interfaces a 2 MV Tandem ion accelerator and a 0.6 MV ion implanter to a 1.2 MeV AEI high voltage electron microscope, which allows a wide variety of in situ ion beam experiments to be performed with simultaneous irradiation and electron microscopy or diffraction.At elevated temperatures, U3Si exhibits the ordered AuCu3 structure. On cooling below 1058 K, the intermetallic transforms, evidently martensitically, to a body-centered tetragonal structure (alternatively, the structure may be described as face-centered tetragonal, which would be fcc except for a 1 pet tetragonal distortion). Mechanical twinning accompanies the transformation; however, diferences between electron diffraction patterns from twinned and non-twinned martensite plates could not be distinguished.


Author(s):  
Jian-Shing Luo ◽  
Hsiu Ting Lee

Abstract Several methods are used to invert samples 180 deg in a dual beam focused ion beam (FIB) system for backside milling by a specific in-situ lift out system or stages. However, most of those methods occupied too much time on FIB systems or requires a specific in-situ lift out system. This paper provides a novel transmission electron microscopy (TEM) sample preparation method to eliminate the curtain effect completely by a combination of backside milling and sample dicing with low cost and less FIB time. The procedures of the TEM pre-thinned sample preparation method using a combination of sample dicing and backside milling are described step by step. From the analysis results, the method has applied successfully to eliminate the curtain effect of dual beam FIB TEM samples for both random and site specific addresses.


Author(s):  
H. Lorenz ◽  
C. Engel

Abstract Due to the continuously decreasing cell size of DRAMs and concomitantly diminishing thickness of some insulating layers new failure mechanisms appear which until now had no significance for the cell function. For example high resistance leakage paths between closely spaced conductors can lead to retention problems. These are hard to detect by electrical characterization in a memory tester because the involved currents are in the range of pA. To analyze these failures we exploit the very sensitive passive voltage contrast of the Focused Ion Beam Microscope (FIB). The voltage contrast can further be enhanced by in-situ FIB preparations to obtain detailed information about the failure mechanism. The first part of this paper describes a method to detect a leakage path between a borderless contact on n-diffusion and an adjacent floating gate by passive voltage contrast achieved after FIB circuit modification. In the second part we will demonstrate the localization of a DRAM trench dielectric breakdown. In this case the FIB passive voltage contrast technique is not limited to the localization of the failing trench. We can also obtain the depth of the leakage path by selective insitu etching with XeF2 stopped immediately after a voltage contrast change.


Author(s):  
Gunnar Zimmermann ◽  
Richard Chapman

Abstract Dual beam FIBSEM systems invite the use of innovative techniques to localize IC fails both electrically and physically. For electrical localization, we present a quick and reliable in-situ FIBSEM technique to deposit probe pads with very low parasitic leakage (Ipara < 4E-11A at 3V). The probe pads were Pt, deposited with ion beam assistance, on top of highly insulating SiOx, deposited with electron beam assistance. The buried plate (n-Band), p-well, wordline and bitline of a failing and a good 0.2 μm technology DRAM single cell were contacted. Both cells shared the same wordline for direct comparison of cell characteristics. Through this technique we electrically isolated the fail to a single cell by detecting leakage between the polysilicon wordline gate and the cell diffusion. For physical localization, we present a completely in-situ FIBSEM technique that combines ion milling, XeF2 staining and SEM imaging. With this technique, the electrically isolated fail was found to be a hole in the gate oxide at the bad cell.


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