Open AccessAutofluorescence-Free Live-Cell Imaging Using Terbium Nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Marcelina Cardoso Dos Santos,
Joan Goetz,
Hortense Bartenlian,
KaLeung Wong,
Loı̈c J. Charbonnière,
Niko Hildebrandt
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
bioconjugate chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.279
H-Index - 172
eISSN - 1520-4812
pISSN - 1043-1802
DOI - 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.8b00069
Subject(s) - autofluorescence , chemistry , terbium , fluorescence , fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy , nanoparticle , intracellular , live cell imaging , brightness , biophysics , hela , nanotechnology , cell , optics , materials science , biochemistry , organic chemistry , physics , biology , ion
Fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs) have become irreplaceable tools for advanced cellular and subcellular imaging. While very bright NPs require excitation with UV or visible light, which can create strong autofluorescence of biological components, NIR-excitable NPs without autofluorescence issues exhibit much lower brightness. Here, we show the application of a new type of surface-photosensitized terbium NPs (Tb-NPs) for autofluorescence-free intracellular imaging in live HeLa cells. The combination of exceptionally high brightness, high photostability, and long photoluminecence (PL) lifetimes for highly efficient suppression of the short-lived autofluorescence allowed for time-gated PL imaging of intracellular vesicles over 72 h without toxicity and at extremely low Tb-NP concentrations down to 12 pM. Detection of highly resolved long-lifetime (ms) PL decay curves from small (∼10 μm 2 ) areas within single cells within a few seconds emphasized the unprecedented photophysical properties of Tb-NPs for live-cell imaging that extend well beyond currently available nanometric imaging agents.
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