title: Controlled reduction of photobleaching in DNA origami-gold nanoparticle hybrids.
abstract: The amount of information obtainable from a fluorescence-based measurement is limited by photobleaching: Irreversible photochemical reactions either render the molecules nonfluorescent or shift their absorption and/or emission spectra outside the working range. Photobleaching is evidenced as a decrease of fluorescence intensity with time, or in the case of single molecule measurements, as an abrupt, single-step interruption of the fluorescence emission that determines the end of the experiment. Reducing photobleaching is central for improving fluorescence (functional) imaging, single molecule tracking, and fluorescence-based biosensors and assays. In this single molecule study, we use DNA self-assembly to produce hybrid nanostructures containing individual fluorophores and gold nanoparticles at a controlled separation distance of 8.5 nm. By changing the nanoparticles' size we are able to systematically increase the mean number of photons emitted by the fluorophores before photobleaching.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones en Bionanociencias (CIBION), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) , Godoy Cruz 2390, C1425FQD Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Jesica V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Pellegrotti
authors.forename: Guillermo P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Acuna
authors.forename: Anastasiya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Puchkova
authors.forename: Phil
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Holzmeister
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gietl
authors.forename: Birka
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lalkens
authors.forename: Fernando D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Stefani
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tinnefeld
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D038761:Photobleaching; D017785:Photons
chemical_list: D006046:Gold; D004247:DNA