https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-025-06469-9
Regular Article
Evaluating the impact of sample preparation protocol on the elemental analysis of glioblastoma cells with micro-PIXE
1
Ion Implantation Laboratory, Institute of Physics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, P.O. Box 15051, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
2
Interdisciplinary Center of Nanoscience and Micro-Nanotechnology, School of Technology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 6681, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
3
Laboratory of Inflammation and Cellular Biophysics, School of Health and Life Sciences, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 6681, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
Received:
27
December
2024
Accepted:
23
May
2025
Published online:
20
June
2025
Micro-PIXE is a powerful tool for elemental mapping of biological samples and its application for cell screening has been explored for decades. In principle, an appropriate sample preparation protocol must not interfere with the elemental composition of the species under study. Moreover, it should ideally preserve the original spatial position of the elements in the organic tissue. Therefore, establishing a proper preparation protocol can be challenging as far elemental composition is concerned. We report on the impact of sample preparation protocol on the elemental analysis of U87 glioblastoma cells using the micro-PIXE technique. Particular attention is given to the cell washing procedure during the sample preparation for the micro-PIXE analysis. To that end, phosphate buffer saline (PBS) and ammonium acetate (AA) were tested as washing solutions for glioblastoma cells. Overall, substantial differences were observed in the elemental composition of cells depending on the protocol employed for cell washing. Our results indicate that the elemental concentrations found in the cells are higher when the PBS washing protocol is applied. The advantages and drawbacks of both washing protocols are discussed.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
