title: A highly specific gold nanoprobe for live-cell single-molecule imaging.
abstract: Single molecule tracking in live cells is the ultimate tool to study subcellular protein dynamics, but it is often limited by the probe size and photostability. Because of these issues, long-term tracking of proteins in confined and crowded environments, such as intracellular spaces, remains challenging. We have developed a novel optical probe consisting of 5 nm gold nanoparticles functionalized with a small fragment of camelid antibodies that recognize widely used green fluorescent proteins (GFPs) with a very high affinity, which we call GFP-nanobodies. These small gold nanoparticles can be detected and tracked using photothermal imaging for arbitrarily long periods of time. Surface and intracellular GFP-proteins were effectively labeled even in very crowded environments such as adhesion sites and cytoskeletal structures both in vitro and in live cell cultures. These nanobody-coated gold nanoparticles are probes with unparalleled capabilities; small size, perfect photostability, high specificity, and versatility afforded by combination with the vast existing library of GFP-tagged proteins.
authors: LP2N, Université de Bordeaux, Institut d'Optique & CNRS UMR 5298, Talence, France.
authors: Cécile
authors: C
authors: Leduc
authors: Satyabrata
authors: S
authors: Si
authors: Jérémie
authors: J
authors: Gautier
authors: Martinho
authors: M
authors: Soto-Ribeiro
authors: Bernhard
authors: B
authors: Wehrle-Haller
authors: Alexis
authors: A
authors: Gautreau
authors: Grégory
authors: G
authors: Giannone
authors: Laurent
authors: L
authors: Cognet
authors: Brahim
authors: B
authors: Lounis
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies / Q000737:chemistry*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006801:Humans; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006046:Gold