Fractal Nanoplasmonic Labels for Supermultiplex Imaging in Single Cells

J Am Chem Soc. 2019 Jul 31;141(30):11938-11946. doi: 10.1021/jacs.9b03498. Epub 2019 Jul 18.

Abstract

The rapidly increasing need for systems biology stimulates the development of supermultiplex (SM) methods for simultaneously labeling multiple biomolecules/cells with distinct colors. Here we report the development of DNA-engineered fractal nanoplasmonic labels with ultrahigh brightness and photostability for SM imaging in single cells. These color-resolvable nanoplasmonic labels have a uniform size of ∼50 nm with an inner hollow gap of ∼1 nm. The outer shell morphology is highly tunable with the tip aspect ratio covering the range of δ = 0.29-1.66, which supports SM plasmonic imaging exceeding the conventional fluorescence multiplexing limit. We demonstrate the use of these SM labels for quantitative imaging of receptor-mediated endocytosis and intracellular transport of multiple protein-NP structures in a single cell in real time. This SM-plasmonic method sheds light on elucidating complex interactions among protein-NPs in nanotoxicology and facilitates the development of novel nanomedicines for diagnosis and therapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Color
  • DNA / chemistry*
  • Gold / chemistry*
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Optical Imaging*
  • Particle Size
  • Single-Cell Analysis*
  • Surface Properties

Substances

  • Gold
  • DNA