Most fluorescent proteins exhibit multi-exponential fluorescence decays, indicating the presence of a heterogeneous excited state population. In the analysis of FRET to and between fluorescent proteins, it is often convenient to assume that a single interaction pathway is involved. However, in recent work we have shown that this assumption does not hold. Moreover, certain pathways can be highly constrained, leading to the potential misinterpretation of experimental data concerning protein-protein interactions. FRET and single-photon absorption both obey the same global electric dipole selection rules but differ greatly in the mechanism of the acceptor photoselection. In an isotropic medium, single-photon excitation accesses all acceptor transition dipole moment orientations with an equal probability. However, the FRET rate depends on the relative orientation of the donor and acceptor through the κ² orientation parameter. We show how time- and spectrally- resolved fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decay measurements following direct acceptor excitation, combined with those of the interacting FRET pair, can be used to identify restricted FRET state selection and thus provide accurate measurements of protein-protein interaction dynamics.

Observation times of freely diffusing single molecules in solution are limited by the photophysics of the attached fluorescence markers and by a small observation volume in the femtolitre range that is required for a sufficient signal-to-background ratio. To extend diffusion-limited observation times through a confocal detection volume, A. E. Cohen and W. E. Moerner have invented and built the ABELtrap — a microfluidic device to actively counteract Brownian motion of single nanoparticles with an electrokinetic trap. Here we present a version of an ABELtrap with a laser focus pattern generated by electro-optical beam deflectors and controlled by a programmable FPGA chip. This ABELtrap holds single fluorescent nanoparticles for more than 100 seconds, increasing the observation time of fluorescent nanoparticles compared to free diffusion by a factor of 10000. To monitor conformational changes of individual membrane proteins in real time, we record sequential distance changes between two specifically attached dyes using Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET). Fusing the a-subunit of the F_oF₁-ATP synthase with mNeonGreen results in an improved signal-to-background ratio at lower laser excitation powers. This increases our measured trap duration of proteoliposomes beyond 2 s. Additionally, we observe different smFRET levels attributed to varying distances between the FRET donor (mNeonGreen) and acceptor (Alexa568) fluorophore attached at the a- and c-subunit of the F_oF₁-ATP synthase respectively.

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDP) form a large and functionally important class of proteins that lack an ordered three-dimensional structure. IDPs play an important role in cell signaling, transcription, or chromatin remodeling. The discovery of IDPs has challenged the traditional paradigm of protein structure which states that protein function depends on a well-defined three-dimensional structure. Due to their high conformational flexibility and the lack of ordered secondary structure, it is challenging to study the flexible structure, dynamics and energetics of these proteins with conventional methods. In our work, we employ photoinduced electron transfer (PET) combined with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) for studying the conformational dynamics of one specific class of IDPs: phenylalanine-glycine rich protein domains (FG repeats) which are dominant building blocks within the pore of nuclear pore complexes. Nuclear pore complexes are large protein assemblies that cross the nuclear envelope and form selective barrier, which regulate bidirectional exchange between nucleus and cytoplasm.

Archival of experimental data in public databases has increasingly become a requirement for most funding agencies and journals. These data-sharing policies have the potential to maximize data reuse, and to enable confirmatory as well as novel studies. However, the lack of standard data formats can severely hinder data reuse.

In photon-counting-based single-molecule fluorescence experiments, data is stored in a variety of vendor-specific or even setup-specific (custom) file formats, making data interchange prohibitively laborious, unless the same hardware-software combination is used. Moreover, the number of available techniques and setup configurations make it difficult to find a common standard.

To address this problem, we developed Photon-HDF5 (www.photon-hdf5.org), an open data format for timestamp-based single-molecule fluorescence experiments. Building on the solid foundation of HDF5, Photon- HDF5 provides a platform- and language-independent, easy-to-use file format that is self-describing and supports rich metadata. Photon-HDF5 supports different types of measurements by separating raw data (e.g. photon-timestamps, detectors, etc) from measurement metadata. This approach allows representing several measurement types and setup configurations within the same core structure and makes possible extending the format in backward-compatible way.

Complementing the format specifications, we provide open source software to create and convert Photon- HDF5 files, together with code examples in multiple languages showing how to read Photon-HDF5 files. Photon- HDF5 allows sharing data in a format suitable for long term archival, avoiding the effort to document custom binary formats and increasing interoperability with different analysis software. We encourage participation of the single-molecule community to extend interoperability and to help defining future versions of Photon-HDF5.

For many scientific applications, electron multiplying charge coupled devices (EMCCDs) have been the sensor of choice because of their high quantum efficiency and built-in electron amplification. Lately, many researchers introduced scientific complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (sCMOS) imagers in their instrumentation, so as to take advantage of faster readout and the absence of excess noise.

Alternatively, single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) imagers can provide even faster frame rates and zero readout noise. SwissSPAD is a 1-bit 512×128 SPAD imager, one of the largest of its kind, featuring a frame duration of 6.4 μs. Additionally, a gating mechanism enables photosensitive windows as short as 5 ns with a skew better than 150 ps across the entire array. The SwissSPAD photon detection efficiency (PDE) uniformity is very high, thanks on one side to a photon-to-digital conversion and on the other to a reduced fraction of "hot pixels" or "screamers", which would pollute the image with noise. A low native fill factor was recovered to a large extent using a microlens array, leading to a maximum PDE increase of 12×. This enabled us to detect single fluorophores, as required by ground state depletion followed by individual molecule return imaging microscopy (GSDIM). We show the first super resolution results obtained with a SPAD imager, with an estimated localization uncertainty of 30 nm and resolution of 100 nm. The high time resolution of 6.4 μs can be utilized to explore the dye's photophysics or for dye optimization. We also present the methodology for the blinking analysis on experimental data.

Fluorescence lifetime microscopy has become an important method of bioimaging, allowing not only to record intensity and spectral, but also lifetime information across an image. One of the most widely used methods of FLIM is based on Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC). In TCSPC, one determines this curve by exciting molecules with a periodic train of short laser pulses, and then measuring the time delay between the first recorded fluorescence photon after each exciting laser pulse. An important technical detail of TCSPC measurements is the fact that the delay times between excitation laser pulses and resulting fluorescence photons are always measured between a laser pulse and the first fluorescence photon which is detected after that pulse. At high count rates, this leads to so-called pile-up: ``early'' photons eclipse long-delay photons, resulting in heavily skewed TCSPC histograms. To avoid pile-up, a rule of thumb is to perform TCSPC measurements at photon count rates which are at least hundred times smaller than the laser-pulse excitation rate. The downside of this approach is that the fluorescence-photon count-rate is restricted to a value below one hundredth of the laser-pulse excitation-rate, reducing the overall speed with which a fluorescence signal can be measured. We present a new data evaluation method which provides pile-up corrected fluorescence decay estimates from TCSPC measurements at high count rates, and we demonstrate our method on FLIM of fluorescently labeled cells.

The popularity of carbocyanine dyes in single molecule spectroscopy of nucleic acids is unbroken [1]. Studying the dynamics of large RNA constructs and the binding kinetics such as the exon/intron binding side interaction of the group II intron in S. Cerevisiae [2,3] have motivated a thorough photophysical characterization of the FRET pair Cy3/Cy5 in context of nucleic acids and RNA in particular. We show that Mg2+ as a mediator of RNA-dye interactions enhances the cyanine fluorescence lifetime. The increasing window for depolarization as monitored by time-resolved anisotropy further revealed a dynamic equilibrium between free tumbling and stacking on the RNA backbone, with the stacked conformation preventing photoisomerization [4]. Tracking fluorophore mobility covalently bound to the RNA on an atomistic level by means of molecular dynamics [5] allow to disentangle different types of dye-dye and dye-RNA interactions. Our hybrid approach combining time-correlated single photon counting and computer simulations will benefit the interpretation of absolute distance measurement by smFRET. [1] M.Levitus and S.Ranjit, Q. Rev. Biophys 2011, 44, 123-151. [2] D.Kowerko, S.L.B.König, M.Skilandat, D.Kruschel, M.C.A.S.Hadzic, L.Cardo, R.K.O.Sigel, PNAS 2015, 112, 3403-3408. [3] M. Khier, D. Kowerko, F. Steffen, R. Börner and R.K.O.Sigel, in preparation. [4] F.Steffen, R.K.O. Sigel, R.Börner, in preparation. [5] R.Best, H. Hofmann, D. Nettels, B. Schuler, Biophys J 2015, 11,2721-2731.

Tracking single molecules inside cells reveals the dynamics of biological processes, including receptor trafficking, signaling and cargo transport. However, individual molecules often cannot be resolved inside cells due to their high density in the cellular environment. We developed a photobleaching gate assay, which controls the number of fluorescent particles in a region of interest by repeatedly photobleaching its boundary. Using this method, we tracked single particles at surface densities two orders of magnitude higher than the single-molecule detection limit. We observed ligand-induced dimerization of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) on a live cell membrane. In addition, we tracked individual intraflagellar transport (IFT) trains along the length of a cilium and observed their remodeling at the ciliary tip.

Most photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes of algae and higher plants are integral membrane proteins and are thus usually isolated in the presence of detergent to provide a hydrophobic interface and prevent aggregation. It was recently shown that the styrene maleic acid (SMA) copolymer can be used instead to solubilize and isolate protein complexes with their native lipid environment into nanodisk particles. We isolated LHCII complexes in SMA and compared their photophysics with trimeric LHCII complexes in β-DM detergent micelles to understand the effect of the native environment on the function of light-harvesting antennae. The triplet state kinetics and the calculated relative absorption cross section of single complexes indicate the successful isolation of trimeric complexes in SMA nanodisks, confirming the trimeric structure as the likely native configuration. The survival time of complexes before they photobleach is increased in SMA compared to detergent which might be explained by a stabilizing effect of the co-purified lipids in nanodisks. We furthermore find an unquenched fluorescence lifetime of 3.5 ns for LHCII in SMA nanodisks which coincides with detergent isolated complexes and notably differs from 2 ns typically found in native thylakoid structures. A large dynamic range of partially quenched complexes both in detergent micelles and lipid nanodisks is demonstrated by correlating the fluorescence lifetime with the intensity and likely reflects the conformational freedom of these complexes. This further supports the hypothesis that fluorescence intermittency is an intrinsic property of LHCII that may be involved in excess energy dissipation in native light-harvesting.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the universal chemical energy currency for cellular activities provided mainly by the membrane enzyme F_oF₁-ATP synthase in bacteria, chloroplasts and mitochondria. Synthesis of ATP is accompanied by subunit rotation within the enzyme. Over the past 15 years we have developed a variety of single-molecule FRET (smFRET) experiments to monitor catalytic action of individual bacterial enzymes in vitro. By specifically labeling rotating and static subunits within a single enzyme we were able to observe three-stepped rotation in the F₁ motor, ten-stepped rotation in the F_o motor and transient elastic deformation of the connected rotor subunits. However, the spatial and temporal resolution of motor activities measured by smFRET were limited by the photophysics of the FRET fluorophores. Here we evaluate the novel FRET donor mNeonGreen as a fusion to F_oF₁-ATP synthase and compare it to the previously used fluorophore EGFP. Topics of this manuscript are the biochemical purification procedures and the activity measurements of the fully functional mutant enzyme.

Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy (TIRFM) is a widespread technique to study cellular process occurring near the contact region with the glass substrate. In this field, determination of the accurate distance from the surface to the plasma membrane constitutes a crucial issue to investigate the physical basis of cellular adhesion process. However, quantitative interpretation of TIRF pictures regarding the distance z between a labeled membrane and the substrate is not trivial. Indeed, the contrast of TIRF images depends on several parameters more and less well known (local concentration of dyes, absorption cross section, angular emission pattern…). The strategy to get around this problem is to exploit a series of TIRF pictures recorded at different incident angles in evanescent regime. This technique called variable-angle TIRF microscopy (vaTIRFM), allowing to map the membrane-substrate separation distance with a nanometric resolution (10-20 nm). vaTIRFM was developed by Burmeister, Truskey and Reichert in the early 1990s with a prism-based TIRF setup [Journal of Microscopy 173, 39-51 (1994)]. We propose a more convenient prismless setup, which uses only a rotatable mirror to adjust precisely the laser beam on the back focal plane of the oil immersion objective (no azimuthal scanning is needed). The series of TIRF images permit us to calculate accurately membrane-surface distances in each pixel. We demonstrate that vaTIRFM are useful to quantify the adhesion of living cells for specific and unspecific membrane-surface interactions, achieved on various functionalized substrates with polymers (BSA, poly-L-lysin) or extracellular matrix proteins (collagen and fibronectin).

Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy has been established as an important technique for imaging below the diffraction limit facilitating new discoveries in an array of biological systems. In STED microscopy a “donut-shaped” laser focus is super-imposed onto the diffraction-limited focus of an excitation laser. The dounut-shaped beam suppresses fluorescence in the periphery of the excitation spot, reducing the effective point spread function to a sub-diffraction size. However, the application of multicolor STED microscopy in living cells poses a number of challenges. Here we detail a novel STED system specifically designed for two-color STED applications. Our system employs FPGA-based gated detection and fast beam scanning to reduce pixel dwell time and photobleaching. We demonstrate the instrument’s capability with two-color continuous imaging of intracellular targets below the diffraction limit allowing observation of rare events within live-cells.

HER2 positive breast cancer is currently examined by counting HER2 genes using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)-stained breast carcinoma samples. In this research, two-dimensional super resolution fluorescence microscopy based on stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM), with a spatial resolution of approximately 20 nm in the lateral direction, was used to more precisely distinguish and count HER2 genes in a FISH-stained tissue section. Furthermore, by introducing double-helix point spread function (DH-PSF), an optical phase modulation technique, to super resolution microscopy, three-dimensional images were obtained of HER2 in a breast carcinoma sample approximately 4 μm thick.

Recently, far-field optical imaging with a resolution significantly beyond diffraction limit has attracted tremendous attention allowing for high resolution imaging in living objects. Various methods have been proposed that are divided in to two basic approaches; deterministic super-resolution like STED or RESOLFT and stochastic super-resolution like PALM or STORM. We propose to achieve super-resolution in far-field fluorescence imaging by the use of controllable (on-demand) bursts of pulses that can change the fluorescence signal of long-lived component over one order of magnitude. We demonstrate that two beads, one labeled with a long-lived dye and another with a short-lived dye, separated by a distance lower than 100 nm can be easily resolved in a single experiment. The proposed method can be used to separate two biological structures in a cell by targeting them with two antibodies labeled with long-lived and short-lived fluorophores.

Astigmatism imaging is widely used to encode the 3D position of fluorophore in single-particle tracking and super-resolution localization microscopy. Here, we present a fast and precise localization algorithm based on gradient fitting to decode the 3D subpixel position of the fluorophore. This algorithm determines the center of the emitter by finding the position with the best-fit gradient direction distribution to the measured point spread function (PSF), and can retrieve the 3D subpixel position of the emitter in a single iteration. Through numerical simulation and experiments with mammalian cells, we demonstrate that our algorithm yields comparable localization precision to the traditional iterative Gaussian function fitting (GF) based method, while exhibits over two orders-of-magnitude faster execution speed. Our algorithm is a promising online reconstruction method for 3D super-resolution microscopy.

Recent developments have shown that conical diffraction by a biaxial crystal can create a vortex beam for use in 2D STED microscopy. It has been shown that this concept can be extended and also generate the depletion distributions used for 3D STED microscopy. A single beam passes through a biaxial crystal that creates two co-propagating, co-localized beams; the first one is used for lateral depletion, and the other one for axial depletion. The two beams are crossed-polarized and thus do not interfere. We will show that the 3D distribution can be made achromatic, i.e. several depletion wavelengths can travel through a common path and still be shaped into the appropriate pattern by optimizing the geometry of the system. This system enables true one-channel 3D depletion at multiple wavelengths ranging from 580nm to 770nm, thus covering most of the conventional depletion wavelengths currently used. Preliminary results of depletion PSFs will be presented and the advantages and limitations of this system will be discussed as well as the experimental considerations required to successfully obtain the desired PSFs.

Recently the single molecules such as protein and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) have been successfully characterized using a solidstate nanopore with an electrical detection technique. However, the optical plasmonic nanopore has yet to be fabricated. The optical detection technique can be better utilized as next generation ultrafast geneome sequencing devices due to the possible utilization of the current optical technique for genome sequencing. In this report, we have investigated the Au nanopore formation under the electron beam irradiation on an Au aperture. The circular-type nanoopening with ~ 5 nm diameter on the diffused membrane is fabricated by using 2 keV electron beam irradiation by using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). We found the Au cluster on the periphery of the drilled aperture under a 2 keV electron beam irradiation. Immediately right after electron beam irradiation, no Au cluster and no Au crystal lattice structure on the diffused plane are observed. However, after the sample was kept for ~ 6 months under a room environment, the Au clusters are found on the diffused membrane and the Au crystal lattice structures on the diffused membrane are also found using high resolution transmission electron microscopy. These phenomena can be attributed to Ostwald ripening. In addition, the Au nano-hole on the 40 nm thick Au membrane was also drilled by using 200 keV scanning transmission electron microscopy.

We introduce a novel imaging modality, named Space-Time Scanning Interferometry (STSI), which synthesizes interferograms mapped in a hybrid space-time domain. A single linear sensor array is sufficient to build up synthetic interferograms with unlimited Field of View (FoV) along the scanning direction, reduced noise, and allowing quantitative phase retrieval. We applied the STSI method to in-flow on-chip microscopy of biological samples. Out-of-focus recordings are performed using a single line detector, in order to synthesize an unlimited FoV Space-Time Digital Hologram (STDH) yielding full-field, 3D information. Experimental proofs have been carried out to demonstrate the useful capability of STDH to overcome the trade-off existing between FoV and sample magnification, thus providing a high-throughput, label/free, quantitative, diagnostic tool to study biological elements onboard LoC platforms.

Stochastic Optical Fluctuation Imaging (SOFI) is a superresolution fluorescence microscopy technique which allows to enhance the spatial resolution of an image by evaluating the temporal fluctuations of blinking fluorescent emitters. SOFI is not based on the identification and localization of single molecules such as in the widely used Photoactivation Localization Microsopy (PALM) or Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM), but computes a superresolved image via temporal cumulants from a recorded movie. A technical challenge hereby is that, when directly applying the SOFI algorithm to a movie of raw images, the pixel size of the final SOFI image is the same as that of the original images, which becomes problematic when the final SOFI resolution is much smaller than this value. In the past, sophisticated cross-correlation schemes have been used for tackling this problem. Here, we present an alternative, exact, straightforward, and simple solution using an interpolation scheme based on Fourier transforms. We exemplify the method on simulated and experimental data.

We extend the information content of the microscope’s point-spread-function (PSF) by adding a new degree of freedom: spectral information. We demonstrate controllable encoding of a microscopic emitter’s spectral information (color) and 3D position in the shape of the microscope’s PSF. The design scheme works by exploiting the chromatic dispersion of an optical element placed in the optical path. By using numerical optimization we design a single physical pattern that yields different desired phase delay patterns for different wavelengths. To demonstrate the method’s applicability experimentally, we apply it to super-resolution imaging and to multiple particle tracking.

To construct a Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM) image one should collect sufficient number of localized fluorophores to satisfy Nyquist criterion. This requirement limits time resolution of the method. In this work we propose a probabalistic approach to construct STORM images from a subset of localized fluorophores 3-4 times sparser than required from Nyquist criterion. Using a set of STORM images constructed from number of localizations sufficient for Nyquist criterion we derive a model which allows us to predict the probability for every location to be occupied by a fluorophore at the end of hypothetical acquisition, having as an input parameters distribution of already localized fluorophores in the proximity of this location. We show that probability map obtained from number of fluorophores 3-4 times less than required by Nyquist criterion may be used as superresolution image itself. Thus we are able to construct STORM image from a subset of localized fluorophores 3-4 times sparser than required from Nyquist criterion, proportionaly decreasing STORM data acquisition time. This method may be used complementary with other approaches desined for increasing STORM time resolution.

Single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) utilizes photoswitchable fluorophores to detect biological entities with 10-20 nm resolution. Multispectral superresolution microscopy (MSSRM) extends SMLM functionality by improving its spectral resolution up to 5 fold facilitating imaging of multicomponent cellular structures or signaling pathways. Current commercial fluorophores are not ideal for MSSRM as they are not designed to photoswitch and do not adequately cover the visible and far-red spectral regions required for MSSRM imaging. To obtain optimal MSSRM spatial and spectral resolution, fluorophores with narrow emission spectra and controllable photoswitching properties are necessary. Herein, a library of BODIPY-based fluorophores was synthesized and characterized to create optimal photoswitchable fluorophores for MSSRM. BODIPY was chosen as the core structure as it is photostable, has high quantum yield, and controllable photoswitching. The BODIPY core was modified through the addition of various aromatic moieties, resulting in a spectrally diverse library. Photoswitching properties were characterized using a novel polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) based film methodology to isolate single molecules. The PVA film methodology enabled photoswitching assessment without the need for protein conjugation, greatly improving screening efficiency of the BODIPY library. Additionally, image buffer conditions were optimized for the BODIPY-based fluorophores through systematic testing of oxygen scavenger systems, redox components, and additives. Through screening the photoswitching properties of BODIPY-based compounds in PVA films with optimized imaging buffer we identified novel fluorophores well suited for SMLM and MSSRM.

Clusters of quantum dots exhibit fluorescent behavior that differs from that of individual particles. Bulk measurements involving a large number of particles obscure these dynamics. Synthesizing clusters with 5–10 particles enables the study of collective behavior where single-molecule fluorescence techniques can be applied. Super-resolution microscopy of these clusters correlated with SEM imaging reveals the influence of geometry and structure on emission dynamics. Signatures of energy transfer can be seen in the form of enhanced blinking. Motion of the emission center of the cluster is tracked, made possible by the independent blinking events of the individual particles. Discrete steps in the localization are observed as random switching between various on/off configurations moves the location of the emission center.

The precise sub-cellular spatial localization of multi-protein complexes is increasingly recognized as a key mechanism governing the organization of mammalian cells. Consequently, there is a need for novel microscopy techniques capable of investigating such sub-cellular architectures in comprehensive detail. Here, we applied a novel multiplexed STORM super-resolution microscopy technique, in combination with high-throughput immunofluorescence microscopy and live-cell imaging, to investigate the roles of the scaffold protein IQGAP1 in epithelial cells. IQGAP1 is known to orchestrate a wide range of biological processes, including intracellular signaling, cytoskeletal regulation, cell-cell adhesion, and protein trafficking, by forming distinct complexes with a number of known interaction partners, and recruiting these complexes to specific subcellular locations. Our results demonstrate that, in addition to supporting epithelial adherens junctions by associating with specialized cortical actin structures, IQGAP1 plays a second role in which it controls the confinement of a unique, previously undocumented class of membranous compartments to the basal actin cortex. These largely immotile yet highly dynamic structures appear transiently as cells merge into clusters and establish of apical-basolateral (epithelial) polarity, and are identified as an intermediate compartment in the endocytic recycling pathways for cell junction complexes and cell surface receptors. Although these two functions of IQGAP1 occur in parallel and largely independently of each other, they both support the maturation and maintenance of polarized epithelial cell architectures.

We analyze and evaluate super-resolved image acquisition with full-field localization microscopy in which an individual signal sampled by localization may or may not be switched. For the analysis, Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem based on ideal delta function was extended to sampling with unit pulse comb and surface-enhanced localized near-field that was numerically calculated with finite difference time domain. Sampling with unit pulse was investigated in Fourier domain where magnitude of baseband becomes larger than that of adjacent subband, i.e. aliasing effect is reduced owing to pulse width. Standard Lena image was employed as imaging target and a diffraction-limited optical system is assumed. A peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) was introduced to evaluate the efficiency of image reconstruction quantitatively. When the target was sampled without switching by unit pulse as the sampling width and period are varied, PSNR increased eventually to 18.1 dB, which is the PSNR of a conventional diffraction-limited image. PSNR was found to increase with a longer pulse width due to reduced aliasing effect. When switching of individual sampling pulses was applied, blurry artifact outside the excited field is removed for each pulse and PSNR soars to 25.6 dB with a shortened pulse period, i.e. effective resolution of 72 nm is obtained, which can further be decreased.

A conventional fluorescence microscope was previously constructed for simultaneous imaging of two colors to gain sub-diffraction localization. The system is predicated on color separation of overlapping Airy discs, construction of matrices of Cartesian coordinates to determine locations as well as centers of the point spread functions of fluorophores. Quantum dots that are separated by as little as 10 nm were resolved in the x-y coordinates. Inter-fluorophore distances that vary by 10 nm could also be distinguished. Quantum dots are bright point light source emitters that excite with a single laser and can serve as a label for many biomolecules. Here, alterations in the method are described to test the ability to resolve Atto 488 and Atto 647 dyes attached to DNA origami at ~40 nm spacing intervals. Dual laser excitation is used in tandem with multi-wavelength bandpass filters. Notwithstanding challenges from reduced intensity in Atto labeled DNA origami helical bundles compared to quantum dots, preliminary data show a mean inter-fluorophore distance of 56 nm with a range (14-148 nm). The range closely matches published results with DNA origami with other methods of subdiffraction microscopy. Sub-diffraction simultaneous two-color imaging fluorescence microscopy acronymically christened (SSTIFM) is a simple, readily accessible, technique for measurement of inter-fluorophore distances in compartments less than 40 nm. Preliminary results with so called nanorulers are encouraging for use with other biomolecules.

We present here a new PSF-shaping technique using biaxial crystals to generate a highly z-dependent distribution in single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM). This distribution features two zeros of intensity that rotate together with defocus. This PSF features similarities to the double-helix introduced by Moerner and Piestun and thus has been dubbed dark-helix since we track zeros of intensity. Preliminary numerical studies based on Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) show that this PSF has the potential to obtain up to 20nm localization precision. This PSF can be easily generated by a very simple, monolithic add-on added in front of the detection camera. Additionally, the PSF remains of the approximate size of the Airy PSF, the x-y localization precision is not substantially affected and no trade-off is required. The xy compacity of the PSF also enables theoretically a higher density of emitters than the double-helix which spreads on a larger scale. Limiting factors for SMLM such as loss of photons, complexity and robustness will be discussed and considerations about the practical implementation of such techniques will be given.

In this report, we describe a plasmonic platform with silver fractals for metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF) measurements. When a dye containing surface was brought into contact with silver fractals, a significantly enhanced fluorescence signal from the dye was observed. Fluorescence enhancement was studied with the N-methyl-azadioxatriangulenium chloride salt (Me-ADOTA.Cl) in PVA films made from 0.2 % PVA (w/v) solution spin-coated on a clean glass coverslip. The Plasmonic Platforms (PP) was assembled by pressing together silver fractals on one glass slide and a separate glass coverslip spin-coated with a uniform Me-ADOTA.Cl in PVA film. In addition, we also tested the ADOTA labeled human serum albumin (HSA) deposited on a glass slide for potential PP bioassay applications. Using the new PP, we could achieve more than 20-fold fluorescence enhancement (bright spots) accompanied by decrease in fluorescence lifetime. The experimental results were used to calculate the extinction (excitation) enhancement factor (GA) and fluorescence radiative rate enhancements factor (GF). No change in emission spectrum was observed for a dye with and without contact with fractals. Our studies indicate that this type of PP can be a convenient approach for constructing assays utilizing metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF) without the need for depositing the material directly on metal structures platforms.

This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 9714, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, and Conference Committee listing.