Artur Camille G, Womack Tasha, Zhao Fusheng, Eriksen Jason L, Mayerich David, Shih Wei-Chuan
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Rd., Houston, TX 77004, USA.
Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Houston College of Pharmacy, Houston, TX 77004, USA.
Biomed Opt Express. 2018 Jan 10;9(2):603-615. doi: 10.1364/BOE.9.000603. eCollection 2018 Feb 1.
Fluorescence-based expansion microscopy (ExM) is a new technique which can yield nanoscale resolution of biological specimen on a conventional fluorescence microscope through physical sample expansion up to 20 times its original dimensions while preserving structural information. It however inherits known issues of fluorescence microscopy such as photostability and multiplexing capabilities, as well as an ExM-specific issue in signal intensity reduction due to a dilution effect after expansion. To address these issues, we propose using antigen-targeting plasmonic nanoparticle labels which can be imaged using surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy (SERS) and dark-field spectroscopy. We demonstrate that the nanoparticles enable multimodal imaging: bright-field, dark-field and SERS, with excellent photostability, contrast enhancement and brightness.
基于荧光的扩张显微镜技术（ExM）是一种新技术，它可以在传统荧光显微镜上通过将生物样本物理性地扩展至其原始尺寸的20倍，同时保留结构信息，从而实现生物样本的纳米级分辨率。然而，它继承了荧光显微镜已知的问题，如光稳定性和多重成像能力，以及ExM特有的一个问题，即扩张后由于稀释效应导致信号强度降低。为了解决这些问题，我们建议使用靶向抗原的等离子体纳米颗粒标记物，这些标记物可以使用表面增强拉曼散射光谱（SERS）和暗场光谱进行成像。我们证明，这些纳米颗粒能够实现多模态成像：明场、暗场和SERS成像，具有出色的光稳定性、对比度增强和亮度。
