STUDY OF TRACE ELEMENTS IN CELLS USING SPM, SR-XRM AND PIXE

Trace elements play important roles in cells. Nuclear techniques as traditional PIXE, SPM and SR-XRM provide solid tools for quantitative element analysis. The article presents element-distribution maps of endometrium, nerve cell and relative quantity tables. Advantages of PIXE, SPM and SR-XRM techniques, especially in application to cell biology, are discussed. PIXE has a large beam and is convenient in measuring a large quantity of samples. SPM gives element-distribution maps owing to its high resolution. SR-XRM tells quantity of elements by its good sensitivity and nondestructive irradiation. The combination of PIXE, SPM and SR-XRM demonstrates that Zn is a component of cell membrane and is proved to be a complementary way which will open vast vistas for cell analysis.