单颗粒光散射显微成像技术在生化医药分析中的应用

等离子体纳米颗粒(PNPs)具有体积小、易表面修饰、生物相容性好、毒性低等优点,在生物传感、生物成像、疾病诊断、肿瘤治疗、材料科学等领域得到了广泛的应用.PNPs的光散射光学性质可以通过调节其大小、组成、形貌和微环境来控制,可用于生化和药物分析.此外,由于单粒子散射显微技术具有高空间分辨率和高灵敏度,借助PNPs具有的...     

基于原子力显微镜的单分子力谱在生物研究中的应用

原子力显微镜被广泛应用于生物研究领域,基于原子力显微镜的单分子力谱可以在单分子、单细胞水平上研究生物分子内和分子间的相互作用。 本文介绍了原子力显微镜单分子力谱在生物分子间相互作用、蛋白质去折叠、细胞表面生物分子、细胞力学性质和基于单分子力谱成像等研究中的最新进展。     

可用于活细胞线粒体随机光学重构超分辨成像的分子内可逆环化五甲川菁染料探针

基于单分子定位的随机光学重构超分辨成像作为一种先进的光学成像方法,可用于尺寸小于光学衍射极限的生物结构的超清晰成像,为在单分子层面研究疾病的发病机制及寻找精准的治疗策略提供有力研究工具,在生物医学领域有着广泛的应用前景.随机光学重构超分辨成像技术依赖于标记探针的光物理性质,探针需要在大量缓冲试剂及含巯基试剂存在下才能产生稳定光致闪烁进行超分辨成像,获得理想的超分辨成像结果,但是大量缓冲试剂与巯基试剂对活细胞伤害较大,使得其在活细胞的超分辨成像应用上存在困难,而限制了其在生物医学成像领域的进一步应用,因此,需要开发可用于活细胞的单分子定位超分辨成像的新型光学探针.本工作提出了一种新的可用于单分子定位超分辨成像的五甲川菁染料探针,不需要外加成像缓冲液及巯基试剂就可以产生光致闪烁变化.基于此,开发了一种分子内自发开、关环反应的新型五甲川菁染料探针,具有活细胞膜通透性.探针不需要使用缓冲液体系及对细胞有害的含巯基试剂,在低功率单束激光直接照射下产生光致闪烁,探针对活细胞没有产生明显毒性,适合活细胞的超分辨成像.进入活细胞后探针选择性定位于细胞线粒体上,在激光照射下产生光致闪烁,电子倍增电荷耦合器相机（EMCCD）在采样频率60 Hz下收集不同条件下的光致闪烁图像,设置不同参数进行结果分析,使用ImageJ进行图像预处理后再使用Falcon算法重构获得活细胞线粒体的超分辨成像图像,相比宽场成像,成像分辨率明显提高,为生物医学光学成像提供新的研究手段.     

单分子定位超分辨显微成像有机荧光探针的研究进展

在生物医学领域,对纳米尺寸级别的微小生物目标进行精确定位研究具有非常重要的意义,而光学显微成像技术为此提供了强有力的工具。 光学显微成像技术受到光学衍射极限的限制,难以分辨尺寸在衍射极限(<200 nm)以下的生物结构,无法直接获取微小生物结构信息,阻碍了生物医学的进一步发展。 近年来,随着纳米分辨显微成像技术的出现,新型荧光探针的开发、成像系统与设备的不断发展及成像算法不断完善地深入结合,促进了光学衍射极限以下尺寸微观目标的研究。 基于单分子定位的超分辨荧光显微成像(SMLM)包括光激活定位成像(PALM)与随机光学重构超分辨成像(STORM),将有机荧光探针与超分辨光学显微成像技术紧密结合在一起,荧光探针的光物理性质直接决定着超分辨成像结果的好坏。 因此,设计不同性能的荧光探针可以实现超精细结构的不同超分辨成像,为研究其生物学功能提供了有力的工具。 本文着重围绕基于SMLM的原理、有机荧光探针的设计要求、用于SMLM的荧光探针种类及其生物应用等方面进行总结综述,指出了单分子定位成像上存在的不足,并对其发展方向进行了展望,希望为对超分辨成像研究感兴趣或初涉该领域的研究者提供成像理论与探针设计方面的帮助。     

基于硅杂蒽类染料的荧光探针及其应用

近年来,荧光成像技术为人们研究活体细胞及组织内的化学生物学过程提供了有效的研究工具,可以无损、实时、原位地以高时空分辨率实现对目标物进行生物荧光成像与分析。荧光成像技术在生物学、环境监测、临床诊断和药物发现等诸多研究领域发挥着越来越重要的作用。生物荧光成像技术的最新进展对发展新型小分子荧光染料及探针提出了更高的要求。激发和发射波长位于近红外光区（600~900 nm）的荧光染料及探针由于具有光毒性低、生物分子自发荧光干扰小、光散射低、组织穿透能力强等优点,非常适合用于生物荧光成像领域。通过将罗丹明分子中O桥原子用Si代替,得到了一类新型的探针分子--硅杂蒽类荧光探针。这类染料分子在保留了氧杂蒽荧光染料优越的光学性质的同时,光谱发生明显红移,满足了近红外荧光检测的要求,具有良好的生物相容性。本文综述了近年来基于硅杂蒽及其衍生物荧光探针的合成及在金属离子、pH值、小分子、生物酶等检测方面的研究进展,并且简要阐述了基于硅杂蒽类探针分子的识别检测机理以及其在生物成像等方面的应用。     

单个量子点的光学性质与应用

量子点(QDs)是一种具有诸多优良光学特性的荧光纳米颗粒,已在化学分析、生物传感、分子影像等领域得到了广泛应用.单个量子点的光学性质研究有望发现一些宏观方法不能发现的实验现象,可以为改善其光学性能提供思路,有助于更好的应用于各领域.本文评述了单个量子点的检测与判定方法,单个量子点的荧光增强、漂白、眨眼(blinking)、蓝移等光学性质及其在单分子示踪、生物化学传感、超分辨定位技术等方面的应用.总结了目前量子点作为荧光探针在实际应用中遇到的问题,并提出未来量子点将朝着合成能同时满足尺寸小、量子产率高、 "non-blinking"、蓝移幅度大、无生物毒性的量子点及能同时为成像/检测提供荧光探针与散射探针的等离子体量子点等研究方向发展.     

金纳米棒:合成、修饰、自组装、SERS及生物医学应用

纳米颗粒作为信号感应单元在化学与生物传感应用中已引起广泛关注,这些功能和金属纳米结构与光相互作用时产生的表面等离子体共振密切相关.表面增强拉曼散射(SERS),是指吸附在粗糙的金属纳米结构表面的被分析物,在光照射下其拉曼光谱获得显著增强的异常表面光学现象,近年来.SERS技术已广泛用于物质检测和生物传感等研究,在生物医学领域表现出巨大的应用潜力并取得了令人瞩目的研究成果.本文阐述了金纳米棒的制备方法、表面修饰和共轭生物分子的方法.并从金纳米棒表面增强拉曼散射的角度系统阐述基于金纳米棒表面增强拉曼散射的1D,2D,3D自组装,并介绍了近期金纳米棒表面增强拉曼散射在生物医学检测与成像中最具有代表性的应用研究.     

单分子宽场光学显微成像技术

单分子宽场光学显微成像技术是单分子检测技术的一种,具有通量高、参数多样、可实时动态监测等优点。本文评述了单分子宽场光学显微成像的技术方法、标记探针、判定原则、检测参数及其在分析化学、生物物理学等领域的应用,指出单分子成像技术正在向仪器设备的实用化、简易化,测量参数的精确化、可视化,研究范围的广泛化、复杂化等方面发展。未来几年单分子成像的研究重点可能会集中在实用定量、突破衍射极限的距离测量、重要生物过程的机理探索和纳米目标物的表征等方面。     

光热显微术:基于光吸收的单分子成像技术

光热显微术是近年来获得广泛关注和长足发展的一种新型光学显微成像技术,能够实现单个纳米粒子甚至单分子的免标记光学成像。其成像原理是利用先进的光学方法探测单分子或单纳米粒子吸收特定波长激发光后所产生的局域温度和介质折射率的微小变化,从而定量研究观测对象的光热特性。由于无辐射弛豫是激发态分子回到基态的优势过程,分子的光热特性相比于荧光特性更具有普遍意义。凭借无需标记、高灵敏度和信号稳定等优点,近十年来,关于单分子和单纳米粒子的光热显微成像研究不断取得突破,并在纳米科学和生命科学等领域获得越来越多的发展和应用,展现出了蓬勃的生命力和良好的发展前景。本文重点综述了光热显微技术的成像原理、发展历程、技术特色以及系统优化方法,列举了光热成像在活细胞研究和生物学领域的应用,最后总结了光热成像的优缺点并分析其主要面临的挑战以及未来的发展趋势,希望吸引更多的研究人员加入到这一新技术的研究队伍中来。     

基于功能核酸的细胞荧光成像

细胞是生物体基本的结构和功能单元,对活细胞中特定生物组分进行动态分析,将为相关生命活动过程的研究提供重要信息。荧光成像为细胞分析提供了一种操作简单、灵敏度高、可实时监测细胞微观动态分子过程的光学生物成像技术。发展高性能的荧光探针用于活细胞成像已成为研究热点。功能核酸是一类具有特殊化学和生物学功能的寡核苷酸分子,除了天然存在的核酶(Ribozyme)和核糖开关(Riboswitch)之外,还包括通过指数富集的配体系统进化技术(SELEX)筛选获得的核酸适体和脱氧核酶(DNAzyme)。功能核酸由于具有合成简单、免疫原性低、相对分子质量小、化学稳定性高、易于修饰等优点,在生物成像领域受到广泛关注。本文主要综述了基于功能核酸的荧光探针在细胞成像领域中的应用研究,总结了该领域面临的挑战,并对其未来发展方向进行了展望。     

Optical characterization of chiral plasmonic nanostructures

Chiral plasmonic nanomaterials can have circular dichroism and optical rotatory dispersion effects orders of magnitude larger than those observed in ordinary chiral molecules. Understanding this fascinating class of materials has proved challenging and has motivated several research groups to develop entirely new experimental techniques for characterizing chirality driven optical properties. In this review, we first describe the classical method of circular dichroism which measures linear, far-field responses from an ensemble population. We then go on to describe several of the more recently developed methods to probe chiral nanostructures as they expand into the domains of non-linear, near-field, and single particle measurements including spatially and spectrally resolved techniques.     

Direct observation of single plasmonic metal nanoparticle reaction in microcolumn with chromatic‐aberration‐free LASER light‐sheet scattering imaging

Direct observation and characterization of individual noble metal nanoparticles (MNPs) and their chemical reactions have attracted much attention owing to their unique physical and chemical properties and extensive applications. To achieve high‐throughput information‐rich evaluation of MNPs, it would be advantageous to combine highly efficient microcolumn separation technology with on‐column high resolution plasmonic imaging technique. Here, with a chromatic aberration‐suppressed supercontinuum laser light‐sheet scattering imaging system and colorimetric detection, we monitored oxidation process of single gold nanorods inside a capillary under gravity driven flow, and observed heterogenous reaction intermediates and pathways for different MNP surface modifications. The results suggest that molecular interactions and bindings with MNPs have a significant impact on their reaction kinetics. This high‐throughput on‐line single particle detection technique could be potentially applied to chemical and biochemical reaction studies of other MNPs.     

Recent progress in detection of chemical and biological toxins in Water using plasmonic nanosensors

The supply of safe drinking water is one of the prominent challenges of the world. Water is polluted mainly by chemical and biological toxins which can causes a serious threat to ecosystems and human health. Regular monitoring of chemical and biological toxins in water sources is the primary step in any preventive method. Traditional detection methods include adsorption and chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The devices based on these techniques are not easy to be carried for on-site detection and require laborious sample preparation protocols. However, advancements in nanomaterial-based sensors have provided solutions to these challenges. Recent developments in plasmonic sensors lead to extraordinary advancements in the area of ultra-sensitive detection at the single particle or molecular level. Noble metal nanoparticles of gold (Au) and silver (Ag) exhibit excellent plasmonic properties and have been applied for the selective and label-free detection of very low concentrations of aquatic pollutants. The present review represent the progress made towards the development and application of plasmonic nanosensors, specifically gold and silver nanoparticle-based sensors for the detection and quantification of various pollutants and contaminations in water. The design and fabrication of plasmonic nanosensors were given emphasis as it is fundamental in enhancing their affinity towards specific pollutant of interest. The effectiveness of plasmonic sensors in reducing the use of expensive instruments while enabling on-site multifunctional detection of toxin contaminants and also the future potential of plasmonic sensors will be highlighted.     

Chemical Characterization of Single Cells and Single Molecules

Advances in sensitive optical measurement schemes have led to the detection and the physical and chemical characterization of single biological cells and individual molecules. These technological achievements are much more than the ultimate milestone in low-level monitoring. Potential applications include DNA sequencing at high speeds, probing microscale environments, monitoring environmental pollution, studying the variability of molecular conformations, detecting disease infection at an early stage, and devising molecular-scale imaging probes.     

Nano-kinetics of probe-particles in solution visualized by a pin-fiber video scope.

The nano-kinetics of colloidal particles and living cells with the colloidal particles were visualized by a newly developed video scope. The system of the new video scope has a feature of fine controlling the illumination conditions by using a single optical fiber. This characteristic enables one to obtain clear images of living cells and the motions of colloidal particles by light-scattering effects. In the experiments, RBL-2H3 cells and gold colloidal particles were observed. Scattering images with high contrast and a dark background like in dark-field observations could be attained. In the experiments, a pulsed laser was also applied. The results obtained in this study could validate the effectiveness and possibility of a new video scope for applications to biological and biomedical fields.     

Single-molecule monitoring in living cells by use of fluorescence microscopy

Monitoring single molecules in living cells is becoming a powerful tool for study of the location, dynamics, and kinetics of individual biomolecules in real time. In recent decades, several optical imaging techniques, for example epi-fluorescence microscopy, total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM), confocal microscopy, quasi-TIRFM, and single-point edge excitation subdiffraction microscopy (SPEED), have been developed, and their capability of capturing single-molecule dynamics in living cells has been demonstrated. In this review, we briefly summarize recent advances in the use of these imaging techniques for monitoring single-molecules in living cells for a better understanding of important biological processes, and discuss future developments.     

Recent Advances in Plasmonic Nanostructures Applied for Label-free Single-cell Analysis

Cellular heterogeneity presents a major challenge in understanding the relationship between cells of particular genotype and response in disease. In order to characterize the cell-to-cell differences during the biochemical processes, single-cell analysis is necessary. Profiting from the unique localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and Mie scattering, plasmonic nanostructures have revealed stable and adjustable scattering signals, avoiding photobleaching, blinking and autofluorescence phenomenon. These characterizations are propitious to the dynamic trace and biological image of single living cells. In this review, we discuss the recent advances in plasmonic nanostructures applied for label-free detection and monitoring of target cells at single-cell level by using three different techniques, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), surface-enhanced Infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS), and dark-field microscopy. Various avenues to design plasmonic probes combining spectra and imaging for single-cell analysis are demonstrated as well. We hope this review can highlight the superiority of plasmonic nanostructures in single cellular analysis, and further motivate the development of label-free cell analysis technique to elucidate cellular diversity and heterogeneity.     

Plasmonic biosensing based on non-noble-metal materials

This review focuses on the research progress of non-noble-metal materials with nanostructures for plasmonic biosensing. Firstly, the physical and sensing principles of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) sensors are briefly introduced; then non-noble-metal materials, such as copper, aluminum, semiconductor, graphene and other materials, for plasmonic sensing are categorized and presented. Finally, a rational discussion about the future prospective of novel materials for plasmonic sensing is given.     

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy toward application in plasmonic photocatalysis on metal nanostructures

Among photothermal, photovoltaic and photochemical techniques, photochemistry is superior in energy storage and transportation by converting photons into chemical fuels. Recently plasmonic photocatalysis, based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) generated from noble metal nanostructures, has attracted much attention. It promotes photochemical reaction efficiency by optimizing the solar spectrum absorption and the surface reaction kinetics. The deeper understanding is in urgent need for the development of novel plasmonic photocatalysts. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), which is also originated from the LSPR effect, provides an excellent opportunity to probe and monitor plasmonic photoreactions in situ and in real-time, with a very high surface sensitivity and energy resolution. Here, fundamentals of plasmonic photocatalysis and SERS are first presented based on their connections to the LSPR effect. Following by a validity analysis, latest studies of SERS applied for the plasmon mediated photochemical reaction are reviewed, focusing on the reaction kinetics and mechanism exploration. Finally, limitations of the present study, as well as the future research directions, are briefly analyzed and discussed.     

聚合物纳米光诊疗剂的制备与应用新进展

共轭聚合物纳米颗粒是由π-共轭有机聚合物组成的尺寸在1~100nm范围内的新型有机纳米材料。与传统的有机小分子、半导体量子点和无机纳米材料相比,聚合物纳米颗粒具有光学性质特殊、结构多样、表面易修饰和生物相容性好等优点,因而被广泛应用于生物成像、传感与检测、载药和治疗等领域。本文主要围绕聚合物纳米颗粒的制备方法、性质结构和生物相容性等方面,重点介绍了聚合物纳米颗粒作为光诊疗剂在荧光成像、光声成像,以及光动力和光热治疗领域的研究进展,并对聚合物纳米颗粒的发展前景和未来面临的挑战进行了探讨。