Photothermal imaging and measurement of protein shell stoichiometry of single HIV-1 Gag virus-like nanoparticles.

ABSTRACT: Virus life stages often constitute a complex chain of events, difficult to track in vivo and in real-time. Challenges are associated with spatial and time limitations of current probes: most viruses are smaller than the diffraction limit of optical microscopes while the entire time scale of virus dynamics spans over 8 orders of magnitude. Thus, virus processes such as entry, disassembly, and egress have generally remained poorly understood. Here we discuss photothermal heterodyne imaging (PHI) as a possible alternative to fluorescence microscopy in the study of single virus-like nanoparticle (VNP) dynamics, with relevance in particular to virus uncoating. Being based on optical absorption rather than emission, PHI could potentially surpass some of the current limitations associated with fl

SUBMITTER: Vieweger M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3184602 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature