Quenched Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (qSTORM) with Graphene Oxide

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Nanotechnology
• Microscopy

Background:

• Super-resolution microscopy faces challenges with high background noise from non-specific fluorophore binding.
• Graphene oxide (GO) exhibits efficient Resonant Energy Transfer (RET), enabling fluorescence quenching.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate Quenched Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (qSTORM) using graphene oxide for enhanced contrast.
• To apply qSTORM for high-resolution imaging of biological and soft-condensed matter samples.

Main Methods:

• Utilized graphene oxide sheets to quench fluorescence emission via RET.
• Applied qSTORM to image graphene oxide sheets, peptide aggregates, and live bacterial cells.
• Investigated the effect of GO layer thickness and thin coatings on imaging performance.

Main Results:

• Achieved 16 nm resolution for GO sheets, 19 nm for peptide aggregates, and 55 nm for bacterial cells.
• Demonstrated significant contrast factor improvements (1-2 orders of magnitude) with low backgrounds.
• Observed a 2.3x resolution improvement for peptide fibers using a feature of interest metric.

Conclusions:

• Graphene oxide films combined with STORM imaging offer a convenient method for high-contrast super-resolution microscopy.
• qSTORM effectively reduces background noise in imaging biological cells and soft-condensed matter.
• GO coatings provide tunable sample/substrate interactions and enhance image resolution.