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Updated: Nov 20, 2025
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Super-Resolution Live Cell Imaging of Subcellular Structures
Published on: January 13, 2021
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Ultrasmall, Bright, and Photostable Fluorescent Core-Shell Aluminosilicate Nanoparticles for Live-Cell Optical
Jacob A Erstling1,2, Joshua A Hinckley1,3, Nirmalya Bag3
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|January 20, 2021
Summary
New ultrasmall nanoparticles enable super-resolution microscopy (SRM) for live cells using non-toxic buffers. These bright, photostable fluorescent probes offer potential for clinical applications in cellular imaging.
Area of Science:
- Nanotechnology
- Microscopy
- Biophysics
Background:
- Stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) traditionally requires toxic buffers, limiting live-cell applications.
- Existing STORM techniques face challenges with photostability and buffer toxicity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a non-toxic, ultrasmall nanoparticle platform for STORM imaging.
- To enable live-cell STORM imaging with enhanced probe brightness and photostability.
Main Methods:
- Utilized ultrasmall (<10 nm) fluorescent core-shell aluminosilicate nanoparticles (aC' dots) encapsulating organic fluorophores.
- Investigated the role of fourfold coordinated aluminum in dye blinking via photoinduced redox processes.
- Functionalized aC' dots with antibodies for targeted fixed-cell imaging.
Main Results:
- Achieved STORM imaging with a single excitation source in regular, non-toxic buffers.
- Demonstrated enhanced brightness and photostability across various dye families compared to free dyes.
- Enabled live-cell STORM imaging, providing quantitative data on intracellular vesicle size and particle count.
Conclusions:
- Ultrasmall aluminosilicate nanoparticles (aC' dots) represent a powerful platform for optical super-resolution microscopy.
- The developed probes are bright, photostable, and suitable for non-toxic live-cell imaging.
- This technology has potential for clinical translation in quantitative cellular structure and process assessment.
