Super-resolution imaging of PDMS nanochannels by single-molecule micelle-assisted blink microscopy.

ABSTRACT: Single-molecule super-resolution microscopy is an emerging technique for nanometer-scale fluorescence imaging, but in vitro single-molecule imaging protocols typically require a constant supply of reagents, and such transport is restricted in constrained geometries. In this article, we develop single-molecule micelle-assisted blink (MAB) microcopy to enable subdiffraction-limit imaging of nanochannels with better than 40 nm accuracy. The method, based on micelles and thiol-related photoswitching, is used to measure nanochannels formed in polydimethylsiloxane through tensile cracking. These conduits are reversibly size-adjustable from a few nanometers up to a micrometer and enable filtering of small particles and linearization of DNA. Unfortunately, conventional techniques cannot be used to

SUBMITTER: Cheng MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3637843 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature