title: Ultrabright photoactivatable fluorophores created by reductive caging.
abstract: Sub-diffraction-limit imaging can be achieved by sequential localization of photoactivatable fluorophores, for which the image resolution depends on the number of photons detected per localization. We report a strategy for fluorophore caging that creates photoactivatable probes with high photon yields. Upon photoactivation, these probes can provide 10(4)-10(6) photons per localization and allow imaging of fixed samples with resolutions of several nanometers. This strategy can be applied to many fluorophores across the visible spectrum.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Vaughan
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhuang
mesh_terms: D017104:Bacteriophage M13 / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002232:Carbocyanines / Q000737:chemistry*; D002460:Cell Line; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D017785:Photons
chemical_list: D002232:Carbocyanines; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; C089187:cyanine dye 3