Dear Trevor,

Please see the article in the foloowing link, it may help you.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3493258/

I am quite convinced that they will. that depends more to the properties of the particles (size, surface conditions, shape) as to the material. Aluminum particles can be found in all kinds of tissues, so they have to go this way. You can check that either by labeling the particles with a dye or by incubating the cells and performing either transmission electron microscopy, ideally combined with EDX analysis

KHS

Dear Trevor,

please give more infos about the kind of cells to the answerers. Why?

For in vitro investigations you can use human lines  or animal lines. What organs will be considered as cells source?

Please read the following booK :

http://de.scribd.com/doc/60804045/In-Vitro-Toxicity-of-Aluminum  

and 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1742706111004946

and reformulate your question pleae.

JRG

Dear Jean,

The question is general about any cells, and does not need to be reformulated.  I was looking for any article talking about the uptake of alumina.  Your response verifies my hypothesis that most people do not know if cells uptake alumina nanoparticles.  Thank you for the attempt to answer my question, but that was not quite what I was looking for. 

From the references that you gave me, one was a master's thesis done in our lab that does not conclude anything about the uptake of alumina nanoparticles and the other article "Fluorescence labeling of colloidal core-shell particles with defined isoelectric points for in vitro studies" has alumina coated particles, however they are not nano (1-100 nm) and not purely alumina.

Trevor

Dear Trevor,

thank you for your answer and for the comments. I don't agree with it about some points.

At first I should be very pleased to know if you had been working with cells e.g. cell cultures .It is a great difference if you use monolayers cells  (mouse fibroblasts/2D) or 3 D cancer cells or another cells growing in 3 D. The uptake via phagocytosis and the transport kinetiics and incubation times are different.

I send you 2 articles related to alumina n.p  within cells and about size synthesis:

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Agglomeration, sedimentation, and cellular toxicity of alumina nanoparticles in cell culture medium

Dokyung Yoon,

Daekwang Woo,

Jung Heon Kim,

Moon Ki Kim,

Taesung Kim,

Eung-Soo Hwang,

Seunghyun Baik

in 

Journal of Nanoparticle Research

June 2011, Volume 13, Issue 6, pp 2543-2551

Abstract

The cytotoxicity of alumina nanoparticles (NPs) was investigated for a wide range of concentration (25–200 μg/mL) and incubation time (0–72 h) using floating cells (THP-1) and adherent cells (J774A.1, A549, and 293). Alumina NPs were gradually agglomerated over time although a significant portion of sedimentation occurred at the early stage within 6 h. A decrease of the viability was found in floating (THP-1) and adherent (J774A.1 and A549) cells in a dose-dependent manner. However, the time-dependent decrease in cell viability was observed only in adherent cells (J774A.1 and A549), which is predominantly related with the sedimentation of alumina NPs in cell culture medium. The uptake of alumina NPs in macrophages and an increased cell-to-cell adhesion in adherent cells were observed. There was no significant change in the viability of 293 cells. This in vitro test suggests that the agglomeration and sedimentation of alumina NPs affected cellular viability depending on cell types such as monocytes (THP-1), macrophages (J774A.1), lung carcinoma cells (A549), and embryonic kidney cells (293).

and 

Size-controlled synthesis of alumina nanoparticles from aluminum alkoxides

Yong Kap Parka,

Erica H. Taddb,

Melissa Zubrisb,

Rina Tannenbaumb, ,

Abstract

Aluminum oxide nanoparticles were prepared by the hydrolysis of aluminum oxide alkoxides followed by calcinations, in the presence of surface stabilizing agents, such as Na(AOT) molecules. The size of alumina precursors (bohemite) was 20–30 nm, yielding aluminum oxide particles with an average size of 80 nm after calcinations at 1200 °C. The shape of the α-alumina nanoparticles was mainly spherical and the high temperature inhibited the formation of the hexagonal crystals. The introduction of Na(AOT) during the appropriate processing step, had the effect of controlling the size of the particles, the degree of aggregation and the particles shapes.

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According to the last article and if the spherical particles are stable enough for cell research, you can contact Jennifer E. Curtis (RG member too) and request the following article:

Jennifer .E. Curtis et al.,  Soft matter , 2007,3,337-348.

You can read interesting features in it  about the uptake, via phagocytosis, of microspheres. She can perhaps help you in your future research with alumina n.p.

Good luck.

JRG

Dear Jean,

Thank you for the assistance... The articles were not quite what I was looking for, as I was purely looking for an article that verifies the uptake of alumina nanoparticles.  I understand that the concept is feasible, but I was looking for actual published work.