Super-beacons: Open-source probes with spontaneous tuneable blinking compatible with live-cell super-resolution microscopy

Pereira, Pedro M.; Gustafsson, Nils; Marsh, Mark; Mhlanga, Musa M. und Henriques, Ricardo (2020): Super-beacons: Open-source probes with spontaneous tuneable blinking compatible with live-cell super-resolution microscopy. In: Traffic, Vol. 21, No. 5: pp. 375-385

Abstract

Localization-based super-resolution microscopy relies on the detection of individual molecules cycling between fluorescent and non-fluorescent states. These transitions are commonly regulated by high-intensity illumination, imposing constrains to imaging hardware and producing sample photodamage. Here, we propose single-molecule self-quenching as a mechanism to generate spontaneous photoswitching. To demonstrate this principle, we developed a new class of DNA-based open-source super-resolution probes named super-beacons, with photoswitching kinetics that can be tuned structurally, thermally and chemically. The potential of these probes for live-cell compatible super-resolution microscopy without high-illumination or toxic imaging buffers is revealed by imaging interferon inducible transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) at sub-100 nm resolutions.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Physics
• Research Centers: Center for NanoScience (CENS)
• Subjects: 500 Science > 530 Physics; 500 Science > 500 Science
• ISSN: 1398-9219
• Language: English