Addressable Nanoantennas with Cleared Hotspots for Single-Molecule Detection on a Portable Smartphone Microscope

Trofymchuk, Kateryna; Glembockyte, Viktorija ; Grabenhorst, Lennart ; Steiner, Florian ; Vietz, Carolin; Close, Cindy; Pfeiffer, Martina; Richter, Lars; Schütte, Max L.; Selbach, Florian; Yaadav, Renukka; Zähringer, Jonas; Wei, Qingshan; Ozcan, Aydogan; Lalkens, Birka; Acuna, Guillermo P.; Tinnefeld, Philip (2020): Addressable Nanoantennas with Cleared Hotspots for Single-Molecule Detection on a Portable Smartphone Microscope. bioRxiv

Abstract

The advent of highly sensitive photodetectors1,2 and the development of photostabilization strategies3 made detecting the fluorescence of a single molecule a routine task in many labs around the world. However, to this day, this process requires cost-intensive optical instruments due to the truly nanoscopic signal of a single emitter. Simplifying single-molecule detection would enable many exciting applications, e.g. in point-of-care diagnostic settings, where costly equipment would be prohibitive.4 Here, we introduce addressable NanoAntennas with Cleared HOtSpots (NACHOS) that are scaffolded by DNA origami nanostructures and can be specifically tailored for the incorporation of bioassays. Single emitters placed in the NACHOS emit up to 461-fold brighter enabling their detection with a customary smartphone camera and an 8-US-dollar objective lens. To prove the applicability of our system, we built a portable, battery-powered smartphone microscope and successfully carried out an exemplary single-molecule detection assay for DNA specific to antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella pneumonia "on the road “.

• Item Type: Paper (Research Paper)
• EU Funded Grant Agreement Number: 737089
• EU Projects: Horizon 2020 > ERC Grants; Horizon 2020 > Future & Emerging Technologies Program > 737089: ChipScope - Overcoming the Limits if Diffraction with Super-Resolution Lighting on a Chip; Horizon 2020
• Published in: bioRxiv, April 2020:
• Faculties: Chemistry and Pharmacy > Department of Chemistry
• Research Centers: Center for NanoScience (CENS); Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM)
• Subjects: 500 Science > 540 Chemistry
• Language: English