Development of nanoparticles for super-resolution imaging (sriNPs) can greatly enrich the toolbox of robust optical probes for biological studies. Moreover, sriNPs enable us to monitor the behavior of engineered nanomaterials in complex biological environments with high spatial resolution, which is important for advancing our understanding of nano-bio interactions. Up to now, reports on sriNPs have been scarce. In this work, we report a facile strategy to prepare protein-based fluorescent NPs that can be utilized as probes in super-resolution microscopy. The method is simple and straightforward, and easily extendible to other types of fluorophores. By using Atto647N-transferrin NPs as an example, we have achieved a roughly four-fold resolution improvement by using STED nanoscopy. These protein-based sriNPs possess excellent biocompatibility, good colloidal stability and photostability, making them attractive candidates for biological studies. Moreover, STED nanoscopy enables the precise imaging of NP structures in living cells, and revealed the co-existence of multiple NPs within one endosomal vesicle.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c6sc04664a | DOI Listing |
Adv Biol (Weinh)
January 2025
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
Synthetic cells offer a versatile platform for addressing biomedical and environmental challenges, due to their modular design and capability to mimic cellular processes such as biosensing, intercellular communication, and metabolism. Constructing synthetic cells capable of stimuli-responsive secretion is vital for applications in targeted drug delivery and biosensor development. Previous attempts at engineering secretion for synthetic cells have been confined to non-specific cargo release via membrane pores, limiting the spatiotemporal precision and specificity necessary for selective secretion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLangmuir
January 2025
Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica - Emilio Segré, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze ed. 18, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
Amyloid fibrils have recently emerged as promising building blocks for functional materials due to their exceptional physicochemical stability and adaptable properties. These protein-based structures can be functionalized to create hybrid materials with a diverse range of applications. Here we report a simple eco-friendly protocol for generating amyloid fibrils from hen egg white lysozyme decorated with gold nanoparticles that can self-assemble in a hydrogel.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Chem Inf Model
January 2025
Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabanci University, Istanbul 34956, Turkey.
Genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors (GEFBs) have become indispensable tools for visualizing biological processes A typical GEFB is composed of a sensory domain (SD) that undergoes a conformational change upon ligand binding or enzymatic reaction; the SD is genetically fused with a fluorescent protein (FP). The changes in the SD allosterically modulate the chromophore environment whose spectral properties are changed. Single fluorescent (FP)-based biosensors, a subclass of GEFBs, offer a simple experimental setup; they are easy to produce in living cells, structurally stable, and simple to use due to their single-wavelength operation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStem Cell Res
February 2025
VU LSC - EMBL Partnership Institute for Gene Editing Technologies, Saulėtekio avenue 7, Vilnius, Lithuania; Laboratory of Nuclease Enabled Cell Therapies, Lithuania; Karolinska Institutet Stem Cell Organoid (KISCO) Facility, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Alfred Nobels allé 8, Huddinge, Sweden; Karolinska Institutet, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Alfred Nobels allé 8, Huddinge, Sweden. Electronic address:
Fluorescent protein-based Genetically Encoded Voltage Indicators (GEVI) offer a remarkable system for high-throughput screening of membrane potential phenotypes. The GEVI MARINA is a derivative from ArcLight, which conversely to ArcLight increases its fluorescence intensity alongside depolarization. Here we created knock-in reporter human iPS cell lines carrying the MARINA reporter using SpCas9 programmable nuclease and characterize a heterozygous clone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
December 2024
Institute of Biochemistry, Center for Human and Molecular Biology (ZHMB), Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.
The NADPH/NADP redox couple is central to metabolism and redox signalling. NADP redox state is differentially regulated by distinct enzymatic machineries at the subcellular compartment level. Nonetheless, a detailed understanding of subcellular NADP redox dynamics is limited by the availability of appropriate tools.
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