Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Super-resolution Fluorescence Microscopy

Super-resolution Fluorescence Microscopy

Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (SRFM) provides a better resolution than conventional fluorescence microscopy by reducing the point spread function (PSF). PSF is the light intensity distribution from a point that causes it to appear blurred. Due to PSF, each fluorescing point appears bigger than its actual size, and it is the PSF interference of nearby fluorophores that causes the blurred image. Various approaches to achieving higher resolution through SRFM have recently been...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Surface-Neutralized HgCdSe Quantum Dots for High-Detectivity Infrared Photodetectors.

Nano letters·2026

Same author

Leveraging Solvatochromic and Mechanochromic Properties of Donor-Acceptor-Donor (D-A-D) Imines for Multimodal Information Encryption.

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026

Same author

5,6-epoxycholestanols metabolism and functions: Defining the epoxycholestanoid (EChA) family.

Progress in lipid research·2026

Same author

Quantum Dot Encoding for In-Solution Single-Molecule Biomarker Counting in Metastatic Prostate Cancer.

ACS nano·2026

Same author

Simulating Cancer Recurrence Patterns From Post-Treatment Viable Tumor Burden Distributions.

JCO clinical cancer informatics·2026

Same author

Molecular skeleton programming of premediators in sulfur electrochemistry.

Nature·2026

Same journal

Silicon-Mediated Laser Shock Synthesis of Nanocrystalline Diamonds from Low-Rank Coal.

ACS nano·2026

Same journal

Precursor-Engineered Strategy for Constructing Supported Tetra-Atom Pt Clusters to Boost Propane Dehydrogenation under Direct Resistive Heating.

ACS nano·2026

Same journal

Enterohepatic Circulation of Polystyrene Nanoplastics Promotes Intestinal Inflammation by Impairing Enteric Neurons.

ACS nano·2026

Same journal

Triboelectric Spectroscopy for Identification of Metal Ion Valence States in Aqueous Solutions.

ACS nano·2026

Same journal

Beyond the Continuum Theory: Conductance Scaling and Correlated Imaging in Atom-Scale Artificial Ion Channels.

ACS nano·2026

Same journal

Selenium-Induced Directional Growth of Ultrathin Nanowires with Subnano Amorphous Shells for High-Performance Multifunctional Electrocatalysis.

ACS nano·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 18, 2025

Compact Quantum Dots for Single-molecule Imaging

Compact Quantum Dots for Single-molecule Imaging

Published on: October 9, 2012

Optimizing Quantum Dot Probe Size for Single-Receptor Imaging.

Phuong Le^1,2, Rohit Vaidya³, Lucas D Smith^1,2

¹Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.

|June 12, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Quantum dot (QD) size impacts cell imaging. Smaller QDs offer specificity, while slightly larger ones improve molecular counting, but excessive size increases non-specific binding.

Keywords:

AMPA receptor molecular probe nanocrystal nanoparticle single-molecule imaging streptavidin

More Related Videos

Production and Targeting of Monovalent Quantum Dots

Production and Targeting of Monovalent Quantum Dots

Published on: October 23, 2014

High-resolution Spatiotemporal Analysis of Receptor Dynamics by Single-molecule Fluorescence Microscopy

High-resolution Spatiotemporal Analysis of Receptor Dynamics by Single-molecule Fluorescence Microscopy

Published on: July 25, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 18, 2025

Compact Quantum Dots for Single-molecule Imaging

Compact Quantum Dots for Single-molecule Imaging

Published on: October 9, 2012

Production and Targeting of Monovalent Quantum Dots

Production and Targeting of Monovalent Quantum Dots

Published on: October 23, 2014

High-resolution Spatiotemporal Analysis of Receptor Dynamics by Single-molecule Fluorescence Microscopy

High-resolution Spatiotemporal Analysis of Receptor Dynamics by Single-molecule Fluorescence Microscopy

Published on: July 25, 2014

Area of Science:

Nanotechnology
Biophysics
Cell Biology

Background:

Quantum dots (QDs) are fluorescent nanocrystals used in life sciences for imaging.
QD size influences optical properties and labeling behavior.
Larger QDs offer better optical performance but can cause labeling biases.

Purpose of the Study:

To systematically analyze how nanocrystal size affects receptor labeling in live and fixed cells.
To determine optimal QD sizes for specific imaging applications like single-molecule detection and molecular counting.

Main Methods:

Designed and synthesized three core-shell QDs with varying crystalline sizes (3.2, 5.5, 8.3 nm) and hydrodynamic sizes (9.2, 13.3, 17.4 nm).
Conjugated QDs to streptavidin to probe biotinylated neurotransmitter receptors in live and fixed cells.
Quantified labeling specificity and molecular counts based on QD hydrodynamic size.

Main Results:

QD9.2 showed high specificity for synaptic cleft receptors in live neurons.
QD13.3 provided the highest molecular counts for dense receptor labeling.
Nonspecific binding increased significantly for QDs larger than 13.3 nm, especially QD17.4.

Conclusions:

QD size is critical for balancing labeling specificity and signal intensity.
Further engineering of smaller QDs is needed to enhance single-molecule imaging and reduce nonspecific binding.
Findings guide the design of size-optimized QD probes for unbiased quantitative and single-molecule imaging.