Table 1. Background-corrected mean mass fractions of the elements P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu and Zn within 1) entire cell body 2) nucleus and 3) cytoplasm of a single fibroblast from control patient ‘PN’ and Friedreich’s ataxia patient ‘DJS’.
| Mean concentration (background corrected) (w%, ppm or μM) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| control (case PN) | Friedreich's ataxia (case DJS) | ||||||||
| Entire cell | Nucleus | Cytoplasm | Backgr. | Entire cell | Nucleus | Cytoplasm | Backgr. | ||
| Mass fraction, % | P | 3.66 | 0.92 | 2.31 | 0.24 | 1.19 | 0.20 | 0.74 | 0.00 |
| S | 1.54 | 0.50 | 0.89 | 0.08 | 0.47 | 0.07 | 0.32 | 0.08 | |
| Cl | 1.13 | 0.13 | 0.71 | 0.23 | 0.61 | - | 0.38 | 0.25 | |
| K | 2.82 | 0.84 | 1.80 | 0.04 | 1.47 | 0.49 | 0.96 | 0.02 | |
| Mass fraction, ppm (μM) |
Ca | 697 (17400) | 160 (4000) | 431 (10800) | 85 | 525 (13100) | - | 361 (9000) | 179 (4460) |
| Mn | 16.1 (293) | - | 9.57 (174) | 6.3 | 24.2 (440) | - | 14.6 (265) | 15.3 (278) | |
| Fe | 52.8 (946) | 1.68 (30) | 33.3 (595) | 15 | 51.9 (928) | - | 32.7 (585) | 29.1 (522) | |
| Ni | 0.33 (5.7) | - | 0.19 (3.3) | 0.2 | 0.63 (11) | - | 0.40 (6.8) | 0.39 (6.7) | |
| Cu | 14.0 (220) | - | 8.23 (129) | 6.0 | 20.5 (323) | - | 12.3 (193) | 13.2 (208) | |
| Zn | 98.9 (1513) | 32.3 (495) | 57.7 (882) | 4.7 | 51.8 (792) | 11.6 (177) | 29.9 (457) | 10.1 (155) | |
| Ice layer thickness | K-Kα/Kβ | 7.6 μm | 4.0 μm | ||||||
| I0/It | 14 μm | 50 μm | |||||||
XRF spectra from detector no. 5 only were used only for quantification. Mass fractions are expressed in w% for P, S, Cl, K and in ppm for Ca, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu and Zn; values in parentheses are in μM. Background concentration was determined as the mean concentration value of an area defined well outside the cell. Absorption correction for the ice layer covering the fibroblasts was carried out using the K-Kα/β-method. For the elements Mn, Fe, Ni and Cu concentration, no quantitative values for the nucleus are provided as background subtraction results in negative value. Mass fractions (molarities) of interest are indicated in bold and discussed in the manuscript text.