Monitoring the penetration and accumulation of gold nanoparticles in rat skin ex vivo using surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy

Honglian Xiong,Huiqing Zhong,Zhouyi Guo,Yanhong Ji

doi:10.1142/s1793545816500267

Abstract

Contamination by accidental cutaneous contact with the commercial products and the air pollutants raised a considerable health and safety issue. This study aimed to trace the dynamics of the 20 nm gold nanoparticle (GNP) penetration and accumulation in rat skin tissues using a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technique. After the topical application of GNPs on rat skin surface, the SERS spectra were recorded for every 15 [Formula: see text]m to an overall depth of 75 [Formula: see text]m from skin surface for 150 min. The processes of GNP penetration in rat skin were accompanied by aggregation of GNPs, which affected SERS spectra. The results revealed that 20 nm GNPs can penetrate through stratum corneum layer, viable epidermis layer, and then into dermis layer. This study demonstrated for the first time the potential of SERS spectroscopy to monitor the penetration and accumulation of GNPs in rat skin.

Highlights

Particle matter (PM) is one of the ambient air particulate pollutants, which can be classied into three groups based on their diameters: < 0:1, 0:1 À 2:5, and > 2:5 m
scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the morphological characteristics of gold nanoparticle (GNP) and gold nanoparticle aggregates (GNAs)
GNPs and GNAs were further characterized by a UV-vis spectrometer

Summary

Introduction

Particle matter (PM) is one of the ambient air particulate pollutants, which can be classied into three groups based on their diameters: < 0:1, 0:1 À 2:5, and > 2:5 m. PM2.5 in ambient air can transfer into human bodies by inhalation, ingestion, dermal. This is an Open Access article published by World Scientic Publishing Company. Big surface area, and suspension in air for longer time, nanoparticles show greater toxicity thanne particulates (< 2:5 um) of the same material on a mass basis.[1] Recently, with the development of nanotechnology, nanomaterials are widely investigated and applied in manyelds, such as biomedicine, cosmetics, catalysis, food, textiles, semiconductors, and biomedicines.[2,3,4,5] In addition to occupational exposure, direct human bodies exposures through commercial applications and ambient air pollution were a major concern

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