Super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging (SOFI) provides an elegant way of overcoming the diffraction limit in all three spatial dimensions by computing higher-order cumulants of image sequences of blinking fluorophores acquired with a classical widefield microscope. Previously, three-dimensional (3D) SOFI has been demonstrated by sequential imaging of multiple depth positions. Here we introduce a multiplexed imaging scheme for the simultaneous acquisition of multiple focal planes. Using 3D cross-cumulants, we show that the depth sampling can be increased. The simultaneous acquisition of multiple focal planes significantly reduces the acquisition time and thus the photobleaching. We demonstrate multiplane 3D SOFI by imaging fluorescently labelled cells over an imaged volume of up to 65 × 65 × 3.5 μm3 without depth scanning. In particular, we image the 3D network of mitochondria in fixed C2C12 cells immunostained with Alexa 647 fluorophores and the 3D vimentin structure in living Hela cells expressing the fluorescent protein Dreiklang.
Up to now, all demonstrations of reversible saturable optical fluorescence transitions (RESOLFT) superresolution microscopy of living cells have relied on the use of reversibly switchable fluorescent proteins (RSFP) emitting in the green spectral range. Here we show RESOLFT imaging with rsCherryRev1.4, a new red‐emitting RSFP enabling a spatial resolution up to four times higher than the diffraction barrier. By co‐expressing green and red RSFPs in living cells we demonstrate two‐color RESOLFT imaging both for single (“donut”) beam scanning and for parallelized versions of RESOLFT nanoscopy where an array of >23 000 “donut‐like” minima are scanned simultaneously.
The near infrared (NIR) optical window between the cutoff for hemoglobin absorption at 650 nm and the onset of increased water absorption at 900 nm is an attractive, yet largely unexplored, spectral regime for diffraction-unlimited super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (nanoscopy). We developed the NIR fluorescent protein SNIFP, a bright and photostable bacteriophytochrome, and demonstrate its use as a fusion tag in live-cell microscopy and STED nanoscopy. We further demonstrate dual color red-confocal/NIR-STED imaging by co-expressing SNIFP with a conventional red fluorescent protein.
Photoswitchable fluorophores—proteins and synthetic dyes—whose emission is reversibly switched on and off upon illumination, are powerful probes for bioimaging, protein tracking, and super-resolution microscopy. Compared to proteins, synthetic dyes are smaller and brighter, but their photostability and the number of achievable switching cycles in aqueous solutions are lower. Inspired by the robust photoswitching system of natural proteins, we designed a supramolecular system based on a fluorescent diarylethene ( DAE ) and cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) (denoted as DAE @CB7). In this assembly, the photoswitchable DAE molecule is encapsulated by CB7 according to the host–guest principle, so that DAE is protected from the environment and its fluorescence brightness and fatigue resistance in pure water improved. The fluorescence quantum yield (Φ fl ) increased from 0.40 to 0.63 upon CB7 complexation. The photoswitching of the DAE @CB7 complex, upon alternating UV and visible light irradiations, can be repeated 2560 times in aqueous solution before half-bleaching occurs (comparable to fatigue resistance of the reversibly photoswitchable proteins), while free DAE can be switched on and off only 80 times. By incorporation of reactive groups [maleimide and N -hydroxysuccinimidyl (NHS) ester], we prepared bioconjugates of DAE @CB7 with antibodies and demonstrated both specific labeling of intracellular proteins in cells and the reversible on/off switching of the probes in cellular environments under irradiations with 355 nm/485 nm light. The bright emission and robust photoswitching of DAE-Male3 @CB7 and DAE-NHS @CB7 complexes (without exclusion of air oxygen and addition of any stabilizing/antifading reagents) enabled confocal and super-resolution RESOLFT (reversible saturable optical fluorescence transitions) imaging with apparent 70–90 nm optical resolution.
Reversibly photoswitchable fluorescent proteins are essential markers for advanced biological imaging, and optimization of their photophysical properties underlies improved performance and novel applications. Here we establish a link between photoswitching contrast, one of the key parameters that dictate the achievable resolution in nanoscopy applications, and chromophore conformation in the non-fluorescent state of rsEGFP2, a widely employed label in REversible Saturable OpticaL Fluorescence Transitions (RESOLFT) microscopy. Upon illumination, the cis chromophore of rsEGFP2 isomerizes to two distinct off-state conformations, trans1 and trans2, located on either side of the V151 side chain. Reducing or enlarging the side chain at this position (V151A and V151L variants) leads to single off-state conformations that exhibit higher and lower switching contrast, respectively, compared to the rsEGFP2 parent. The combination of structural information obtained by serial femtosecond crystallography with high-level quantum chemical calculations and with spectroscopic and photophysical [a] Dr.
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