Multi-dimensional super-resolution imaging enables surface hydrophobicity mapping.

ABSTRACT: Super-resolution microscopy allows biological systems to be studied at the nanoscale, but has been restricted to providing only positional information. Here, we show that it is possible to perform multi-dimensional super-resolution imaging to determine both the position and the environmental properties of single-molecule fluorescent emitters. The method presented here exploits the solvatochromic and fluorogenic properties of nile red to extract both the emission spectrum and the position of each dye molecule simultaneously enabling mapping of the hydrophobicity of biological structures. We validated this by studying synthetic lipid vesicles of known composition. We then applied both to super-resolve the hydrophobicity of amyloid aggregates implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, and the

SUBMITTER: Bongiovanni MN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5155161 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature