Understanding cellular internalization pathways of silicon nanowires

BACKGROUND: Understanding how cells interact with nanomaterials is important for rational design of nanomaterials for nanomedicine and transforming them for clinical applications. Particularly, the mechanism for one-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials with high aspect ratios still remains unclear. RESULTS: In this work, we present amine-functionalized silicon nanowires (SiNW-NH(2)) entering CHO-β cells via a physical membrane wrapping mechanism. By utilizing optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and confocal fluorescence microscopy, we successfully visualized the key steps of internalization of SiNW-NH(2) into cells. CONCLUSION: Our results provide insight into the interaction between 1D nanomaterials and confirm that these materials can be used for understanding membrane mechanics through physical stress exerted on the membrane. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12951-017-0250-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.