000161681 001__ 161681 000161681 005__ 20251017144553.0 000161681 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1021/acs.analchem.5c01588 000161681 0248_ $$2sideral$$a144353 000161681 037__ $$aART-2025-144353 000161681 041__ $$aeng 000161681 100__ $$aBazo, Antonio$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000161681 245__ $$aIons with Ions, Entities with Entities: A Proof-of-Concept Study Using the SELM-1 Yeast Certified Reference Material for Intra- and Extracellular Se Quantification via Single-Cell ICP-Mass Spectrometry 000161681 260__ $$c2025 000161681 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted 000161681 5203_ $$aIn this work, two novel nanoparticle (NP)-based calibration strategies, external calibration and a relative method, have been explored for single-cell ICP-mass spectrometry (SC-ICP-MS) analysis. The fundamental principle of these methods is to rely on individual entities (well-characterized NPs of the target analyte) for calibration rather than on ionic standard solutions. The performance of the NP-based calibration approaches has been compared to that of the reference method (particle size with AuNP standards). In addition to the intracellular Se content (mass per individual cell), the extracellular Se (dissolved fraction) was also determined directly and simultaneously using the average background from the SC-ICP-MS time-resolved signal. The figures-of-merit of the methods developed have been evaluated by relying on the analysis of the SELM-1 cell-certified reference material, consisting of Se-enriched yeast cells, and certified for its total Se content (intracellular + extracellular Se). All methods successfully determined the Se elemental contents, but an improvement in accuracy and precision was observed for the NP-based methods compared to the reference one. Furthermore, the NP-based methods were found to be less time-consuming, more straightforward, and more user-friendly in terms of calculations. These results open new avenues for calibration in quantitative SC-ICP-MS analysis and call for a fundamental change in the methodology, where the determination of ionic contents is based on the use of ionic standard solutions for calibration, while the determination of elemental contents in discrete micro/nanoentities, such as cells, should ideally be based on calibration using standard entities, thus avoiding the need to calculate a transport efficiency coefficient. 000161681 536__ $$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/E43-20R$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/101034288/EU/International Fellowship Programme for Talent Attraction to the Campus of International Excellence Campus Iberus/IberusExperience$$9This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No H2020 101034288-IberusExperience$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PID2021-122455NB-I00$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/RYC2021-031093-I 000161681 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby$$uhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es 000161681 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 000161681 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0002-1856-2058$$aBolea-Fernandez, Eduardo$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000161681 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0001-9582-6283$$aRua-Ibarz, Ana$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000161681 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0002-3916-9992$$aAramendía, Maite$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000161681 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0002-7450-8769$$aResano, Martín$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000161681 7102_ $$12009$$2750$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Química Analítica$$cÁrea Química Analítica 000161681 773__ $$g(2025), [8 pp.]$$pAnal. chem.$$tANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY$$x0003-2700 000161681 8564_ $$s2783390$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/161681/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada 000161681 8564_ $$s3081005$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/161681/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada 000161681 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:161681$$particulos$$pdriver 000161681 951__ $$a2025-10-17-14:12:21 000161681 980__ $$aARTICLE