Assessing Cellular Uptake of Exogenous Coenzyme Q₁₀ into Human Skin Cells by X-ray Fluorescence Imaging

• Main Authors: Theresa Staufer (Author), Mirja L. Schulze (Author), Oliver Schmutzler (Author), Christian Körnig (Author), Vivienne Welge (Author), Thorsten Burkhardt (Author), Jens-Peter Vietzke (Author), Alexandra Vogelsang (Author), Julia M. Weise (Author), Thomas Blatt (Author), Oliver Dabrowski (Author), Gerald Falkenberg (Author), Dennis Brückner (Author), Carlos Sanchez-Cano (Author), Florian Grüner (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2022-08-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.3390/antiox11081532; 2076-3921
• Keywords: X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging; Q₁₀; uptake; single skin cells; Therapeutics. Pharmacology; RM1-950
• Source: Antioxidants, Vol 11, Iss 8, p 1532 (2022)

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging is a highly sensitive non-invasive imaging method for detection of small element quantities in objects, from human-sized scales down to single-cell organelles, using various X-ray beam sizes. Our aim was to investigate the cellular uptake and distribution of Q₁₀, a highly conserved coenzyme with antioxidant and bioenergetic properties. Q₁₀ was labeled with iodine (I₂-Q₁₀) and individual primary human skin cells were scanned with nano-focused beams. Distribution of I₂-Q₁₀ molecules taken up inside the screened individual skin cells was measured, with a clear correlation between individual Q₁₀ uptake and cell size. Experiments revealed that labeling Q₁₀ with iodine causes no artificial side effects as a result of the labeling procedure itself, and thus is a perfect means of investigating bioavailability and distribution of Q₁₀ in cells. In summary, individual cellular Q₁₀ uptake was demonstrated by XRF, opening the path towards Q₁₀ multi-scale tracking for biodistribution studies.