Expanding the Palette of SWIR Emitting Nanoparticles Based on Au Nanoclusters for Single-Particle Tracking Microscopy.
Apolline A SimonLucie HayeAbdallah AlhalabiQuentin GresilBlanca Martín MuñozStéphane MornetAndreas ReischXavier Le GuévelLaurent CognetPublished in: Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) (2024)
Single-molecule localization microscopy has proved promising to unravel the dynamics and molecular architecture of thin biological samples down to nanoscales. For applications in complex, thick biological tissues shifting single-particle emission wavelengths to the shortwave infrared (SWIR also called NIR II) region between 900 to 2100 nm, where biological tissues are more transparent is key. To date, mainly single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) enable such applications, but they are inherently 1D objects. Here, 0D ultra-small luminescent gold nanoclusters (AuNCs, <3 nm) and ≈25 nm AuNC-loaded-polymeric particles that can be detected at the single-particle level in the SWIR are presented. Thanks to high brightness and excellent photostability, it is shown that the dynamics of the spherical polymeric particles can be followed at the single-particle level in solution at video rates for minutes. We compared single particle tracking of AuNC-loaded-polymeric particles with that of SWCNT diffusing in agarose gels demonstrating the specificity and complementarity of diffusion properties of these SWIR-emitting nano-objects when exploring a complex environment. This extends the library of photostable SWIR emitting nanomaterials to 0D nano-objects of variable size for single-molecule localization microscopy in the second biological window, opening unprecedented possibilities for mapping the structure and dynamics of complex biological systems.
Keyphrases
- single molecule
- drug delivery
- high resolution
- fluorescent probe
- living cells
- atomic force microscopy
- photodynamic therapy
- quantum dots
- sensitive detection
- gene expression
- energy transfer
- light emitting
- label free
- drug release
- walled carbon nanotubes
- high throughput
- high speed
- optical coherence tomography
- gold nanoparticles
- high density