Electrochemically controlled blinking of fluorophores for quantitative STORM imaging

Electrochemically controlled blinking of fluorophores for quantitative STORM imaging

July 2024 | Ying Yang, Yuanqing Ma, Jonathan F. Berengut, Lawrence K. Lee, Richard D. Tilley, Katharina Gaus & J. Justin Gooding
This article presents a method for electrochemically controlling the blinking of fluorophores to enable quantitative STORM (Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy) imaging. The technique, called EC-STORM, uses electrochemical potentials to switch fluorophores between ON and OFF states, allowing precise control over switching kinetics, duty cycle, and recovery yield. This control enables accurate molecular counting by regulating the frequency of ON events, which scales linearly with the number of underlying dyes. The study demonstrates EC-STORM imaging of tubulin in fixed cells with a spatial resolution of -28 nm and the counting of single Alexa 647 fluorophores on various DNA nanoruler structures. STORM imaging relies on the separation of fluorophore emissions in time and space to determine the coordinates of individual molecules. This is achieved by photochemically switching fluorophores between an OFF state and an emissive ON state. However, challenges such as undercounting due to photobleaching or overcounting from random blinking of dyes hinder accurate molecular counting. EC-STORM addresses these issues by using electrochemical potentials to control the switching of fluorophores, suppressing random blinking and enabling precise ON events. The study shows that EC-STORM can achieve a duty cycle range of 4×10⁻⁵ to 4×10⁻³, which is 50 times higher than that achieved with UV laser control. This method also allows for the resolution of all underlying fluorophores, as demonstrated by the 100% recovery yield of Alexa 647 molecules. The technique was applied to two- and three-dimensional imaging, showing improved resolution and reduced artifacts from overlapping emitters. EC-STORM also enables single-molecule counting by controlling the switching of fluorophores, allowing for the accurate determination of the number of underlying molecules. The study demonstrates the use of EC-STORM for counting DNA nanoruler samples, showing consistent results with expected fluorophore separations. The method was further validated by counting Alexa 647 molecules on DNA nanorulers, with calibrated counts of 4.10 ± 0.18 and 7.07 ± 0.29 for nanorulers #1 and #2, respectively. The electrochemical switching of fluorophores offers several advantages over traditional photochemical methods, including the ability to switch molecules to the OFF state with a moderate imaging laser, eliminating the need for a UV laser, and enabling fine control over the duty cycle. These features make EC-STORM a promising tool for super-resolution imaging and molecular counting, with potential applications in a wide range of biological and biomedical studies.This article presents a method for electrochemically controlling the blinking of fluorophores to enable quantitative STORM (Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy) imaging. The technique, called EC-STORM, uses electrochemical potentials to switch fluorophores between ON and OFF states, allowing precise control over switching kinetics, duty cycle, and recovery yield. This control enables accurate molecular counting by regulating the frequency of ON events, which scales linearly with the number of underlying dyes. The study demonstrates EC-STORM imaging of tubulin in fixed cells with a spatial resolution of -28 nm and the counting of single Alexa 647 fluorophores on various DNA nanoruler structures. STORM imaging relies on the separation of fluorophore emissions in time and space to determine the coordinates of individual molecules. This is achieved by photochemically switching fluorophores between an OFF state and an emissive ON state. However, challenges such as undercounting due to photobleaching or overcounting from random blinking of dyes hinder accurate molecular counting. EC-STORM addresses these issues by using electrochemical potentials to control the switching of fluorophores, suppressing random blinking and enabling precise ON events. The study shows that EC-STORM can achieve a duty cycle range of 4×10⁻⁵ to 4×10⁻³, which is 50 times higher than that achieved with UV laser control. This method also allows for the resolution of all underlying fluorophores, as demonstrated by the 100% recovery yield of Alexa 647 molecules. The technique was applied to two- and three-dimensional imaging, showing improved resolution and reduced artifacts from overlapping emitters. EC-STORM also enables single-molecule counting by controlling the switching of fluorophores, allowing for the accurate determination of the number of underlying molecules. The study demonstrates the use of EC-STORM for counting DNA nanoruler samples, showing consistent results with expected fluorophore separations. The method was further validated by counting Alexa 647 molecules on DNA nanorulers, with calibrated counts of 4.10 ± 0.18 and 7.07 ± 0.29 for nanorulers #1 and #2, respectively. The electrochemical switching of fluorophores offers several advantages over traditional photochemical methods, including the ability to switch molecules to the OFF state with a moderate imaging laser, eliminating the need for a UV laser, and enabling fine control over the duty cycle. These features make EC-STORM a promising tool for super-resolution imaging and molecular counting, with potential applications in a wide range of biological and biomedical studies.
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