title: Optical imaging of individual plasmonic nanoparticles in biological samples.
abstract: Imaging of plasmonic nanoparticles (PNP) with optical microscopy has aroused considerable attention in recent years. The unique localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) from metal nanoparticles facilitates the transduction of a chemical or physical stimulus into optical signals in a highly efficient way. It is therefore possible to perform chemical or biological assays at the single object level with the help of standard optical microscopes. Because the source of background noise from different samples is different, distinct imaging modalities have been developed to discern the signals of interest in complex surroundings. With these convenient yet powerful techniques, great improvements in chemical and biological assays have been demonstrated, and many interesting phenomena and dynamic processes have also been elucidated. Further development and application of optical imaging methods for plasmonic probes should lead to many exciting results in chemistry and biology in the future.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Phytochemical Research and Development of Hunan Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China; email: lehuixiao@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lehui
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Edward S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Yeung
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001688:Biological Products / Q000032:analysis*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000032:analysis*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D006046:Gold
keywords: darkfield; interference detection; optical microscopy; plasmonic nanoparticles; scattering imaging