title: Nano-scale measurement of biomolecules by optical microscopy and semiconductor nanoparticles.
abstract: Over the past decade, great developments in optical microscopy have made this technology increasingly compatible with biological studies. Fluorescence microscopy has especially contributed to investigating the dynamic behaviors of live specimens and can now resolve objects with nanometer precision and resolution due to super-resolution imaging. Additionally, single particle tracking provides information on the dynamics of individual proteins at the nanometer scale both in vitro and in cells. Complementing advances in microscopy technologies has been the development of fluorescent probes. The quantum dot, a semi-conductor fluorescent nanoparticle, is particularly suitable for single particle tracking and super-resolution imaging. This article overviews the principles of single particle tracking and super resolution along with describing their application to the nanometer measurement/observation of biological systems when combined with quantum dot technologies.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Comprehensive Bioimaging, RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Taro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ichimura
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Nano-Bio Probes, RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center Suita, Osaka, Japan ; Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University Suita, Osaka, Japan ; WPI, Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Comprehensive Bioimaging, RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center Suita, Osaka, Japan ; WPI, Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, School of Science, The University of Tokyo Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Comprehensive Bioimaging, RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center Suita, Osaka, Japan ; Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University Suita, Osaka, Japan ; WPI, Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomonobu M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Watanabe
keywords: fluorescent microscopy; nanoparticle; quantum dot; single particle tracking; super-resolution