D.M. Porterfield

Toxicological studies on silver nanoparticles: challenges and opportunities in assessment, monitoring and imaging

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are becoming increasingly prevalent in consumer products as antibacterial agents. The increased use of Ag NP-enhanced products may lead to an increase in toxic levels of environmental silver, but regulatory control over the use or disposal of such products is lagging due to insufficient assessment on the toxicology of Ag NPs and their rate of release into the environment. In this article we discuss recent research on the transport, activity and fate of Ag NPs at the cellular and organismic level, in conjunction with traditional and recently established methods of nanoparticle characterization. We include several proposed mechanisms of cytotoxicity based on such studies, as well as new opportunities for investigating the uptake and fate of Ag NPs in living systems.

A self referencing platinum nanoparticle decorated enzyme-based microbiosensor for real time measurement of physiological glucose transport

Glucose is the central molecule in many biochemical pathways, and numerous approaches have been developed for fabricating micro biosensors designed to measure glucose concentration in/near cells and/or tissues. An inherent problem for microsensors used in physiological studies is a low signal-to-noise ratio, which is further complicated by concentration drift due to the metabolic activity of cells. A microsensor technique designed to filter extraneous electrical noise and provide direct quantification of active membrane transport is known as self-referencing. Self-referencing involves oscillation of a single microsensor via computer-controlled stepper motors within a stable gradient formed near cells/tissues (i.e., within the concentration boundary layer). The non-invasive technique provides direct measurement of trans-membrane (or trans-tissue) analyte flux. A glucose micro biosensor was fabricated using deposition of nanomaterials (platinum black, multiwalled carbon nanotubes, Nafion) and glucose oxidase on a platinum/iridium microelectrode. The highly sensitive/selective biosensor was used in the self-referencing modality for cell/tissue physiological transport studies. Detailed analysis of signal drift/noise filtering via phase sensitive detection (including a post-measurement analytical technique) are provided. Using this highly sensitive technique, physiological glucose uptake is demonstrated in a wide range of metabolic and pharmacological studies. Use of this technique is demonstrated for cancer cell physiology, bioenergetics, diabetes, and microbial biofilm physiology. This robust and versatile biosensor technique will provide much insight into biological transport in biomedical, environmental, and agricultural research applications.

A self-referencing glutamate biosensor for measuring real time neuronal glutamate flux.

Quantification of neurotransmitter transport dynamics is hindered by a lack of sufficient tools to directly monitor bioactive flux under physiological conditions. Traditional techniques for studying neurotransmitter release/uptake require inferences from non-selective electrical recordings, are invasive/destructive, and/or suffer from poor temporal resolution. Recent advances in electrochemical biosensors have enhanced in vitro and in vivo detection of neurotransmitter concentration under physiological/pathophysiological conditions. The use of enzymatic biosensors with performance enhancing materials (e.g., carbon nanotubes) has been a major focus for many of these advances. However, these techniques are not used as mainstream neuroscience research tools, due to relatively low sensitivity, excessive drift/noise, low signal-to-noise ratio, and inability to quantify rapid neurochemical kinetics during synaptic transmission. A sensing technique known as self-referencing overcomes many of these problems, and allows non-invasive quantification of biophysical transport. This work presents a self-referencing CNT modified glutamate oxidase biosensor for monitoring glutamate flux near neural/neuronal cells. Concentration of basal glutamate was similar to other in vivo and in vitro measurements. The biosensor was used in self-referencing (oscillating) mode to measure net glutamate flux near neural cells during electrical stimulation. Prior to stimulation, the average influx was 33.9+/-6.4 fmol cm(-2)s(-1)). Glutamate efflux took place immediately following stimulation, and was always followed by uptake in the 50-150 fmol cm(-2)s(-1) range. Uptake was inhibited using threo-beta-benzyloxyaspartate, and average surface flux in replicate cells (1.1+/-7.4 fmol cm(-2)s(-1)) was significantly lower than uninhibited cells. The technique is extremely valuable for studying neuropathological conditions related to neurotransmission under dynamic physiological conditions.

Non-Invasive Self-Referencing Electrochemical Sensors for Quantifying Real-Time Biofilm Analyte Flux

Current techniques for characterizing biofilm physiology lack the signal filtering capability required for quantifying signals associated with real time biologically active transport. Though a great deal was learned from previous investigations, no results have been reported on the characterization of in vivo, real time biofilm flux using non‐invasive (non‐destructive) techniques. This article introduces the self‐referencing technique for applications in biofilm physiology. Self‐referencing is a non‐invasive sensing modality which is capable of sensing changes in biologically active analyte flux as small as 10 fmolu2009cm−2u2009s−1. Studies directly characterizing flux, as opposed to concentration, have the advantage of quantifying real time changes in biologically active transport which are otherwise lost to background noise. The use of this modality for characterizing biofilm physiology is validated with a reversible enzyme inhibition study. The experiment used self‐referencing potentiometric sensors for quantifying real time ammonium and nitrite flux. Amperometric and optical sensing methods, though not presented herein, are also powerful sensing tools which benefit from operation in self‐referencing mode. Reversible ammonia monooxygenase inhibition by a copper chelator (thiourea), and subsequent relief by excess copper addition was successfully demonstrated using self‐referencing ion‐selective microelectrodes for a mature Nitrosomonas europaea biofilm. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009; 102: 791–799.

Membrane-Aerated Biofilm Proton and Oxygen Flux during Chemical Toxin Exposure

Bioreactors containing sessile bacteria (biofilms) grown on hollow fiber membranes have been used for treatment of many wastestreams. Real time operational control of bioreactor performance requires detailed knowledge of the relationship between bulk liquid water quality and physiological transport at the biofilm-liquid interface. Although large data sets exist describing membrane-aerated bioreactor effluent quality, very little real time data is available characterizing boundary layer transport under physiological conditions. A noninvasive, microsensor technique was used to quantify real time (≈1.5 s) changes in oxygen and proton flux for mature Nitrosomonas europaea and Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms in membrane-aerated bioreactors following exposure to environmental toxins. Stress response was characterized during exposure to toxins with known mode of action (chlorocarbonyl cyanide phenyl-hydrazone and potassium cyanide), and four environmental toxins (rotenone, 2,4-dinitrophenol, cadmium chloride, and pentachlorophenol). Exposure to sublethal concentrations of all environmental toxins caused significant increases in O(2) and/or H(+) flux (depending on the mode of action). These real time microscale signatures (i.e., fingerprints) of O(2) and H(+) flux can be coupled with bulk liquid analysis to improve our understanding of physiology in counter-diffusion biofilms found within membrane aerated bioreactors; leading to enhanced monitoring/modeling strategies for bioreactor control.

A difference imaging technique for monitoring real-time changes in morphology within the cell, tissue, and organism spatial domain

Image subtraction has been an extremely useful tool for capturing subtle changes in pixel intensity with extremely high temporal resolution, and has been used for decades in the astronomy and metal corrosion fields. However, to date, image subtraction has not been used as a mainstream technique for investigating morphological changes in cells, tissues, or whole organisms. We introduce a user-friendly differential imaging technique for monitoring real time (~msec) changes in morphology within the micrometer to millimeter spatial scale. The technique is demonstrated by measuring morphological changes morphology for biomedical (bone stress), agricultural (crop root elongation), and environmental (zooplankton ecotoxicology) applications. Subtle changes in growth that would typically only be observed by highly skilled experts are easily resolved via image subtraction and the use of convolution kernels. When coupled with techniques characterizing real time biochemical transport (e.g., respiration, ion/substrate transport), physiology can be directly quantified with a high temporal and spatial resolution. Because of the ease of use, this technique can be readily applied to any field of science concerned with bridging the gap between form and function.

Frequency domain fluorescence lifetime microwell-plate platform for respirometry measurements

Traditionally micro-well plate based platforms used in biology utilize fluorescence intensity based methods to measure processes of biological relevance. However, fluorescence intensity measurements suffer from calibration drift due to a variety of factors. Photobleaching and self-quenching of the fluorescent dyes cause the intensity signal to drop over the lifetime of sensor immobilized inside the well. Variation in turbidity of the sample during the course of the measurement affects the measured fluorescence intensity. In comparison, fluorescence lifetime measurements are not significantly affected by these factors because fluorescence lifetime is a physico-chemical property of the fluorescent dye. Reliable and inexpensive frequency domain fluorescence lifetime instrumentation platforms are possible because the greater tolerance for optical alignment, and because they can be performed using inexpensive light sources such as LEDs. In this paper we report the development of a frequency domain fluorescence lifetime well-plate platform utilizing an oxygen sensitive transition-metal ligand complex fluorophore with a lifetime in the microsecond range. The fluorescence lifetime dye is incorporated in a polymer matrix and immobilized on the base of micro-well of a 60 well micro-well plate. Respiration measurements are performed in both aqueous and non-aqueous environment. Respirometry measurements were recorded from single Daphnia magna egg in hard water. Daphnia is an aquatic organism, important in environmental toxicology as a standard bioassay and early warning indicator for water quality monitoring. Also respirometry measurements were recorded from Tribolium castaneum eggs, which are common pests in the processed flour industry. These eggs were subjected to mitochondrial electron transport chain inhibitor such as potassium cyanide (KCN) and its effects on egg respiration were measured in real-time.

New developments in electronic reference controls for frequency domain optical sensing

The reference optical path is essential for optical systems which function on the basis of light interference. In the case of frequency domain (FD) fluorescence life-time optrodes, a reference LED is used as a standard for calculating the phase angle. The reference LED is configured so that radiation travels the same length to the detector as that of the fluorescence signal being analyzed. The phase shift, which provides details of fluorescence lifetime, is measured between these two signals - the fluorescence signal and reference LED signal, using a photodetector. We have designed, developed and implemented a FD optrode system without a reference LED. The key requirement of such a system is that phase shifts due to optics at wavelength of fluorescence and electronics have to be calibrated. In the reference-free system, the reference signal comes from the lock-in-amplifier which also drives the excitation LED. The lock-in-amplifier measures the phase shift between the excitation signal and the fluorescence emission signal from the photodetector and is locked at the frequency of modulation of the excitation signal. This insures higher signal to noise ratio and low-noise measurements. The reference-free optrode system removes some constraints on the coupling optics, which help improve the overall performance of the system. After development of electronics, and optimization of coupling optics, the system was calibrated in different oxygen concentration solutions to measure fluorescence intensity and lifetime of the oxygen sensitive dye platinum tetrakis (pentafluorophenyl) porphine (PtTFPP).

Monitoring the health of bacteria critical to wastewater treatment facilities

A new technique that uses sensors to constantly monitor the health of bacteria critical to wastewater treatment facilities has been developed by scientists at Purdue University. Unlike conventional technologies the approach is non-invasive and is able to yield results quickly.