Detecting polymeric nanoparticles with coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering microscopy in tissues exhibiting fixative-induced autofluorescence

Recent advances in pharmaceutical nanotechnology have enabled the development of nano-particulate medicines with enhanced drug performance. Although the fate of these nano-particles can be macroscopically tracked in the body (e.g. using radio-labeling techniques), there is little information about the sub-cellular scale mechanistic processes underlying the particle-tissue interactions, or how these interactions may correlate with pharmaceutical efficacy. To rationally engineer these nano-particles and thus optimize their performance, these mechanistic interactions must be fully understood. Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy provides a label-free means for visualizing biological samples, but can suffer from a strong non-resonant background in samples that are prepared using aldehyde-based fixatives. We demonstrate how formalin fixative affects the detection of polymeric nanoparticles within kidneys following oral administration using CARS microscopy, compared with samples that were snap-frozen. These findings have implications for clinical applications of CARS for probing nanoparticle distribution in tissue biopsies.