Imaging of single fluorescent molecules using video-rate confocal microscopy

Single fluorescent molecules in aqueous solution were imaged for the first time at video-rate using Nipkow disk-type confocal microscopy. Performance of this method was evaluated by imaging single kinesin molecules labeled with fluorescent dyes of tetramethylrhodamine (TMR) or IC5. Photodecomposition lifetimes of the fluorophores were approximately 10 s for TMR and approximately 2 s for IC5 under the incident laser power of 0.5 W/mm(2). Both the fluorescence intensity and the photobleaching rate were proportional to the laser power from 0.65 to 3 W/mm(2). 2D sliding movement of single kinesin molecules along microtubules on glass surface and 3D Brownian motion of individual kinesin molecules in viscous solution could be observed using this microscopy. These results indicated that this method could be applicable to the study of single molecular events in living cells at real time.