Means by which cells 'eat' silicon nanowire revealed

said braka 6:24 AM
Prior research has shown that certain types

of  would consume silicon nanowires introduced to the same . In this new effort, the researchers have developed a way to study the process, revealing how it comes about—a necessary step before attempting to use the nanowires to control the behavior of a cell or as a means of tricking a cell into consuming a drug.
Scientists are eager to find a way to gain control over cells in order to combat diseases at a cellular level. That was what led researchers to search for a material that could be consumed naturally by a cell, but which could also be used as a control mechanism.
To better understand what happens when  encounter certain cells (such as those lining the inside of blood vessels) the researchers combined two types of technology, an electron microscope and an optical imaging tool they designed specifically for tracking the movement of the nanowire—they call it a scatter-enhanced phase contrast. This setup allowed the researchers to watch as part of the outer membrane of the cell reached out to the nanowire and wrapped itself around it and then pulled it closer, eventually forming a bubble encasing the nanowire. Once the nanowire was secured, it was pulled into the cell, where it was corralled by various bits of the inner cell to a location near the nucleus. The researchers report that the process appears to be identical to phagocytosis—the process immune cells use to consume bacteria.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2016-12-cells-silicon-nanowire-revealed.html#jCp