Detecting the metabolism of individual yeast mutant strain cells when aged, stressed or treated with antioxidants with diamond magnetometry. (February 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Morita, Aryan; Nusantara, Anggrek C.; Myzk, Aldona; Perona Martinez, Felipe P.; Hamoh, Thamir; Damle, Viraj G.; van der Laan, Kiran J.; Sigaeva, Alina; Vedelaar, Thea; Chang, Michael; Chipaux, Mayeul; Schirhagl, Romana
• Is Part Of: Nano today. Volume 48(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-02
• Subjects: NV centers -- Nanodiamond -- Relaxometry -- Quantum sensing -- Cells -- Nanoscale voxels -- Real time detection; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; Nanosciences -- Périodiques; 620.505
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nantod.2022.101704
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1748-0132

Abstract

Abstract: Free radicals play a key role in the ageing process. However, free radicals are small, reactive and short lived and thus challenging to measure. We utilize a new technique called diamond magnetometry for this purpose. We make use of nitrogen vacancy centers in nanodiamonds. Via a quantum effect these defects convert a magnetic resonance signal into an optical signal. While this method is increasingly popular for its unprecedented sensitivity in physics, we use this technique here for the first time to measure free radicals in living cells. Our signals are equivalent to T1 signals in conventional MRI but from nanoscale voxels from single cells with sub-cellular resolution. With this powerful tool we are able to follow free radical generation after chemically inducing stress. In addition, we can observe free radical reduction in presence of an antioxidant. We were able to clearly differentiate between mutant strains with altered metabolism. Finally, the excellent stability of our diamond particles allowed us to follow the ageing process and differentiate between young and old cells. We could confirm the expected increase of free radical load in old wild type and sod1 Δ mutants. We further applied this new technique to investigate tor1 Δ and pex19 Δ cells. For these mutants an increased lifespan has been reported but the exact mechanism is unclear. We find a decreased free radical load in, which might offer an explanation for the increased lifespan in these cells. Graphical Abstract: ga1 Highlights: Quantum sensing allows unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution. Here we use this tool for the first time to measure radical generation produced during stress responses in living cells. We investigate different mutants with impaired lifespan.