Surface plasmon-enhanced two-photon fluorescence microscopy for live cell membrane imaging
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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Single Molecule Fluorescence Microscopy on Planar Supported Bilayers
Published on: October 31, 2015
Ruei-Yu He1, Yuan-Deng Su, Keng-Chi Cho
1Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
Abstract:
A surface plasmon-enhanced two-photon total-internal-reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscope has been developed to provide fluorescent images of living cell membranes. The proposed microscope with the help of surface plasmons (SPs) not only provides brighter fluorescent images based on the mechanism of local electromagnetic field enhancement, but also reduces photobleaching due to having a shorter fluorophore lifetime. In comparison with a one-photon TIRF, the two-photon TIRF can achieve higher signal-to-noise ratio cell membrane imaging due its smaller excitation volume and lower scattering. By combining the SP enhancement and two-photon excitation TIRF, the microscope has demonstrated it's capability for brighter and more contrasted fluorescence membrane images of living monkey kidney COS-7 fibroblasts transfected with an EYFP-MEM or EGFP-WOX1 construct.
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