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Different areas have different temperatures, and this is really shocking.
Japanese researchers have created a quantum thermometer that works right inside a living cell. The nanosensor measures the temperature not around the sample and not on average in the cell, but in certain internal areas, including the cytoplasm and the nucleus. The same particle catches chemical radicals, by which the stress and state of the cell can be assessed.
The development was presented by specialists of the National Institute of Quantum Science and Technology of Japan, the University of Tokyo and Kyushu University. Sensors are called MoQNs, Molecular Quantum Nanosensors, or molecular quantum nanosensors. In experiments, the particles worked inside living cancer cells and retained the ability to accurately quantum measurements in a complex biological environment.
The main problem of the previous quantum sensors was heterogeneousness. For intracellular measurements, scientists have already used nanodiamond particles with defects in a crystal lattice. Defects such as tiny quantum sensors and respond to temperature, magnetic fields, or chemical environments. But each nanoalmax is a little different from the other: the defects are distributed randomly, the quality of the material changes from particle to particle, and the signal turns out to be noisy and not always comparable.
MoQNS is different. Instead of random defects in a solid crystal, the researchers used pentacan-based molecular spin qubits, an organic compound with resistant electronic states. The molecules were placed in organic nanocrystals, and the surface of the particles was covered with a special surfactant to ensure that the sensors safely come into contact with living cells.
The advantage of the molecular approach is repeatability. Each sensor is assembled from the same molecular components, so the measurements are less dependent on the hidden differences between the particles. For cellular thermometry, this is critical: if the sensor behaves differently every time, it is difficult to separate the real temperature from the material error.
Checks have shown that MoQNs enter cells without noticeable harm to the membrane, metabolism and normal growth. For an intracellular sensor, this is a prerequisite. The sensor should not change the environment that it measures, otherwise the data will reflect the intervention, and not the usual cell work.
After entering the cells, the nanosensors retained quantum functionality. The researchers tested the spin echo and relaxometry. Simply explained, the team tracked how the quantum state of the electron spins changed in the sensor molecules and how quickly the system returns to equilibrium after excitation. By these changes, you can calculate the temperature and notice the chemical processes next to the sensor.
To improve accuracy, the team used a distant pentazen. In such molecules, some hydrogen atoms are replaced by a deuterium, a heavier isotope of hydrogen. Replacing changes internal interactions in the molecule and helps to get a more stable signal. Due to this, the sensors were able to perform absolute temperature measurements with subcellular resolution, that is, to distinguish between conditions inside the individual areas of the cell.
The most notable result is related to the nucleus. Scientists did not limit themselves to measuring the temperature of the cell as a whole, but built a thermal picture inside the nucleus and found local hot areas. So, different areas of the nucleus can be in different temperature conditions. For biology, this is important: DNA is stored in the nucleus, the mechanisms of reading genetic information work and there are processes that are sensitive to heat.
Previously, the internal temperature of the cell was often described roughly: the cell is warmer or colder than the environment, the individual zones are more active or calmer. MoQNs add detail to this picture. If the temperature changes inside the nucleus from the site to the site, the thermal environment can affect the behavior of DNA, the work of proteins and the rate of reactions not only at the level of the whole cell, but also within specific organella.
Nanosensors measure not only heat. They also respond to chemical radicals – highly active molecules or atoms with an unpagregated electron. Radicals are involved in many reactions in living cells. In normal quantities, they work as signaling molecules, but in excess damage proteins, lipids and DNA. This condition is called oxidative stress.
MoQNs were able to record signs of radical activity and track changes in spin behavior in the cytoplasm and nucleus. The cytoplasm occupies the space between the membrane and the nucleus, where there are numerous reactions of metabolism. The nucleus contains genetic material and controls many cellular processes. Observation of radical signals in two areas gives a more accurate picture of cellular stress.
Therefore, MoQNs can not be reduced only to a miniature thermometer. One class of sensors shows the temperature, chemical state, and signs of oxidative stress inside a living cell. For laboratory biology, this is convenient: instead of a set of individual methods, a quantum platform appears, which can be adjusted for different tasks.
The practical meaning of development remains research. Such sensors will help to study how cells respond to stress, medications, inflammation, metabolic disorders or DNA damage. Cancer cells are especially interesting, because their internal chemistry and energy are often different from normal tissues. The more accurately scientists see the temperature and radical processes within such cells, the better they can understand the weaknesses of the disease.
The medical instrument for doctors technology still needs a long way to go. Nanosensors will have to be tested in different types of cells, tissues and more complex biological models. But the idea itself is already important: quantum measurements are gradually emerging from a physical laboratory into live biology. In the future, similar platforms can become microscopic sensors that show the work of the cell from the inside with accuracy that are inaccessible to conventional methods.
Japanese researchers have created a quantum thermometer that works right inside a living cell. The nanosensor measures the temperature not around the sample and not on average in the cell, but in certain internal areas, including the cytoplasm and the nucleus. The same particle catches chemical radicals, by which the stress and state of the cell can be assessed.
The development was presented by specialists of the National Institute of Quantum Science and Technology of Japan, the University of Tokyo and Kyushu University. Sensors are called MoQNs, Molecular Quantum Nanosensors, or molecular quantum nanosensors. In experiments, the particles worked inside living cancer cells and retained the ability to accurately quantum measurements in a complex biological environment.
The main problem of the previous quantum sensors was heterogeneousness. For intracellular measurements, scientists have already used nanodiamond particles with defects in a crystal lattice. Defects such as tiny quantum sensors and respond to temperature, magnetic fields, or chemical environments. But each nanoalmax is a little different from the other: the defects are distributed randomly, the quality of the material changes from particle to particle, and the signal turns out to be noisy and not always comparable.
MoQNS is different. Instead of random defects in a solid crystal, the researchers used pentacan-based molecular spin qubits, an organic compound with resistant electronic states. The molecules were placed in organic nanocrystals, and the surface of the particles was covered with a special surfactant to ensure that the sensors safely come into contact with living cells.
The advantage of the molecular approach is repeatability. Each sensor is assembled from the same molecular components, so the measurements are less dependent on the hidden differences between the particles. For cellular thermometry, this is critical: if the sensor behaves differently every time, it is difficult to separate the real temperature from the material error.
Checks have shown that MoQNs enter cells without noticeable harm to the membrane, metabolism and normal growth. For an intracellular sensor, this is a prerequisite. The sensor should not change the environment that it measures, otherwise the data will reflect the intervention, and not the usual cell work.
After entering the cells, the nanosensors retained quantum functionality. The researchers tested the spin echo and relaxometry. Simply explained, the team tracked how the quantum state of the electron spins changed in the sensor molecules and how quickly the system returns to equilibrium after excitation. By these changes, you can calculate the temperature and notice the chemical processes next to the sensor.
To improve accuracy, the team used a distant pentazen. In such molecules, some hydrogen atoms are replaced by a deuterium, a heavier isotope of hydrogen. Replacing changes internal interactions in the molecule and helps to get a more stable signal. Due to this, the sensors were able to perform absolute temperature measurements with subcellular resolution, that is, to distinguish between conditions inside the individual areas of the cell.
The most notable result is related to the nucleus. Scientists did not limit themselves to measuring the temperature of the cell as a whole, but built a thermal picture inside the nucleus and found local hot areas. So, different areas of the nucleus can be in different temperature conditions. For biology, this is important: DNA is stored in the nucleus, the mechanisms of reading genetic information work and there are processes that are sensitive to heat.
Previously, the internal temperature of the cell was often described roughly: the cell is warmer or colder than the environment, the individual zones are more active or calmer. MoQNs add detail to this picture. If the temperature changes inside the nucleus from the site to the site, the thermal environment can affect the behavior of DNA, the work of proteins and the rate of reactions not only at the level of the whole cell, but also within specific organella.
Nanosensors measure not only heat. They also respond to chemical radicals – highly active molecules or atoms with an unpagregated electron. Radicals are involved in many reactions in living cells. In normal quantities, they work as signaling molecules, but in excess damage proteins, lipids and DNA. This condition is called oxidative stress.
MoQNs were able to record signs of radical activity and track changes in spin behavior in the cytoplasm and nucleus. The cytoplasm occupies the space between the membrane and the nucleus, where there are numerous reactions of metabolism. The nucleus contains genetic material and controls many cellular processes. Observation of radical signals in two areas gives a more accurate picture of cellular stress.
Therefore, MoQNs can not be reduced only to a miniature thermometer. One class of sensors shows the temperature, chemical state, and signs of oxidative stress inside a living cell. For laboratory biology, this is convenient: instead of a set of individual methods, a quantum platform appears, which can be adjusted for different tasks.
The practical meaning of development remains research. Such sensors will help to study how cells respond to stress, medications, inflammation, metabolic disorders or DNA damage. Cancer cells are especially interesting, because their internal chemistry and energy are often different from normal tissues. The more accurately scientists see the temperature and radical processes within such cells, the better they can understand the weaknesses of the disease.
The medical instrument for doctors technology still needs a long way to go. Nanosensors will have to be tested in different types of cells, tissues and more complex biological models. But the idea itself is already important: quantum measurements are gradually emerging from a physical laboratory into live biology. In the future, similar platforms can become microscopic sensors that show the work of the cell from the inside with accuracy that are inaccessible to conventional methods.
