Yang, Yu-Sang SabrinaAtukorale, Prabhani U.Moynihan, Kelly D.Bekdemir, AhmetRakhra, KavyaTang, LiStellacci, FrancescoIrvine, Darrell J.2017-02-172017-02-172017-02-17201710.1038/ncomms14069https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/134522WOS:000391940200001Inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) are studied as drug carriers, radiosensitizers and imaging agents, and characterizing nanoparticle biodistribution is essential for evaluating their efficacy and safety. Tracking NPs at the single-cell level with current technologies is complicated by the lack of reliable methods to stably label particles over extended durations in vivo. Here we demonstrate that mass cytometry by time-of-flight provides a label-free approach for inorganic nanoparticle quantitation in cells. Furthermore, mass cytometry can enumerate AuNPs with a lower detection limit of B10 AuNPs (3 nm core size) in a single cell with tandem multiparameter cellular phenotyping. Using the cellular distribution insights, we selected an amphiphilic surface ligand-coated AuNP that targeted myeloid dendritic cells in lymph nodes as a peptide antigen carrier, substantially increasing the efficacy of a model vaccine in a B16-OVA melanoma mouse model. This technology provides a powerful new level of insight into nanoparticle fate in vivo.text::journal::journal article::research article