Studies of silicon nanoparticles uptake and biodegradation in cancer cells by Raman spectroscopy.

In-vitro Raman micro-spectroscopy was used for diagnostics of the processes of uptake and biodegradation of porous silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) in breast cancer cells (MCF-7 cell line). Two types of nanoparticles, with and without photoluminescence in the visible spectral range, were investigated. The spatial distribution of photoluminescent SiNPs within the cells obtained by Raman imaging was verified by high-resolution structured-illumination optical microscopy. Nearly complete biodegradation of SiNPs inside the living cells was observed after 13days of the incubation. The results reveal new prospects of multi-modal visualization of SiNPs inside cancer cells for theranostic applications.