January 26, 2024 | Xingfu Zhu, Qiang Chen, Hao Zhao, Qiqi Yang, Goudappagouda, Márton Gelléri, Sandra Ritz, David Ng, Kaloian Koynov, Sapun H. Parekh, Venkatesh Kumar Chetty, Basant Kumar Thakur, Christoph Cremer, Katharina Landfester, Klaus Müllen, Marco Terenzio, Mischa Bonn, Akimitsu Narita, and Xiaomin Liu
The article reports the development and application of nanographene-based intrinsic burst-blinking fluorophores for super-resolution microscopy (SRM). The authors synthesized dibenzo[hi,si]valene (DBOV) nanographenes with hydrophilic side groups, creating biocompatible and functionalized nanographenes that exhibit intrinsic burst-blinking properties. These properties allow for high-quality single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) imaging under various conditions, including air, different pH levels, and live cells. The nanographenes were successfully used to image amyloid fibrils, lysosomes in live cells, and nascent proteins in neurons. The SMLM imaging revealed detailed structures and dynamics, such as higher local translation activity at axonal branching points and the distribution of nascent protein clusters. The study highlights the potential of nanographene-based fluorophores in expanding the applicability of SRM techniques in materials and life sciences.The article reports the development and application of nanographene-based intrinsic burst-blinking fluorophores for super-resolution microscopy (SRM). The authors synthesized dibenzo[hi,si]valene (DBOV) nanographenes with hydrophilic side groups, creating biocompatible and functionalized nanographenes that exhibit intrinsic burst-blinking properties. These properties allow for high-quality single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) imaging under various conditions, including air, different pH levels, and live cells. The nanographenes were successfully used to image amyloid fibrils, lysosomes in live cells, and nascent proteins in neurons. The SMLM imaging revealed detailed structures and dynamics, such as higher local translation activity at axonal branching points and the distribution of nascent protein clusters. The study highlights the potential of nanographene-based fluorophores in expanding the applicability of SRM techniques in materials and life sciences.