Monitoring triplet state dynamics with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy: Bias and correction.

A marker's dark triplet state is of great importance in fluorescence microscopy: It serves as a means to switch off fluorescent markers and is thus the enabling element for several super-resolution methods. On the other hand, intersystem-crossing to the electronic dark triplet state strongly reduces the fluorescence yield in conventional fluorescence microscopy. The ability to determine the kinetic parameters of transitions into the triplet state is thus of great importance and because fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) can be applied without disturbing the system under study, it is one of the preferred methods to do so. However, conventional FCS observations of triplet dynamics suffer from bias due to the spatially inhomogeneous irradiance profile of the excitation laser. Herein, we present a novel method to correct this bias and verify it by analyzing both Monte Carlo simulated and experimental data of the organic dye Rhodamine 110 in aqueous solution for both continuous-wave and pulsed excitation. Importantly, our approach can be readily generalized to most other FCS experiments that determine intensity dependent kinetic parameters

Monitoring triplet state dynamics with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy: bias and correction.

A marker's dark triplet state is of great importance in fluorescence microscopy: It serves as a means to switch off fluorescent markers and is thus the enabling element for several super-resolution methods. On the other hand, intersystem-crossing to the electronic dark triplet state strongly reduces the fluorescence yield in conventional fluorescence microscopy. The ability to determine the kinetic parameters of transitions into the triplet state is thus of great importance and because fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) can be applied without disturbing the system under study, it is one of the preferred methods to do so. However, conventional FCS observations of triplet dynamics suffer from bias due to the spatially inhomogeneous irradiance profile of the excitation laser. Herein, we present a novel method to correct this bias and verify it by analyzing both Monte Carlo simulated and experimental data of the organic dye Rhodamine 110 in aqueous solution for both continuous-wave and pulsed excitation. Importantly, our approach can be readily generalized to most other FCS experiments that determine intensity dependent kinetic parameters

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy with a total internal reflection fluorescence STED microscope (TIRF-STED-FCS).

We characterize a novel fluorescence microscope which combines the high spatial discrimination of a total internal reflection epi-fluorescence (epi-TIRF) microscope with that of stimulated emission depletion (STED) nanoscopy. This combination of high axial confinement and dynamic-active lateral spatial discrimination of the detected fluorescence emission promises imaging and spectroscopy of the structure and function of cell membranes at the macro-molecular scale. Following a full theoretical description of the sampling volume and the recording of images of fluorescent beads, we exemplify the performance and limitations of the TIRF-STED nanoscope with particular attention to the polarization state of the laser excitation light. We demonstrate fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) with the TIRF-STED nanoscope by observing the diffusion of dye molecules in aqueous solutions and of fluorescent lipid analogs in supported lipid bilayers in the presence of background signal. The nanoscope reduced the out-of-focus background signal. A lateral resolution down to 40-50 nm was attained which was ultimately limited by the low lateral signal-to-background ratio inherent to the confocal epi-TIRF scheme. Together with the estimated axial confinement of about 55 nm, our TIRF-STED nanoscope achieved an almost isotropic and less than 1 attoliter small all-optically induced measurement volume

Monitoring triplet state dynamics with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy: Bias and correction

A marker's dark triplet state is of great importance in fluorescence microscopy: It serves as a means to switch off fluorescent markers and is thus the enabling element for several super-resolution methods. On the other hand, intersystem-crossing to the electronic dark triplet state strongly reduces the fluorescence yield in conventional fluorescence microscopy. The ability to determine the kinetic parameters of transitions into the triplet state is thus of great importance and because fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) can be applied without disturbing the system under study, it is one of the preferred methods to do so. However, conventional FCS observations of triplet dynamics suffer from bias due to the spatially inhomogeneous irradiance profile of the excitation laser. Herein, we present a novel method to correct this bias and verify it by analyzing both Monte Carlo simulated and experimental data of the organic dye Rhodamine 110 in aqueous solution for both continuous-wave and pulsed excitation. Importantly, our approach can be readily generalized to most other FCS experiments that determine intensity dependent kinetic parameters. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Enhancing fluorescence brightness: effect of reverse intersystem crossing studied by fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy.

Experiments based on fluorescence detection are limited by the population of the fluorescence marker's long-lived dark triplet state, leading to pronounced photobleaching reactions and blinking which reduces the average fluorescence signal obtained per time interval. By irradiation with a second, red-shifted laser line, we initiate reverse intersystem crossing (ReISC) which enhances the fluorescence signal of common fluorophores up to a factor of 14. The reverse intersystem crossing from the triplet state back to the singlet system is achieved by photoexcitation to higher-excited triplet states, which are, however, prone to photobleaching. We gain insights into the competing pathways of ReISC and photobleaching. The relative efficiencies of these two pathways and the triplet lifetime determine the achievable fluorescence enhancement, which varies strongly with the choice of dye, excitation irradiance and wavelength, and with environmental conditions. The study of ReISC not only results in a better understanding of a fluorescent label's photophysics, but the method is a possible approach to optimize fluorescence emission in experiments, where signal strength is a critical parameter

Red-emitting rhodamine dyes for fluorescence microscopy and nanoscopy.

Fluorescent markers emitting in the red are extremely valuable in biological microscopy since they minimize cellular autofluorescence and increase flexibility in multicolor experiments. Novel rhodamine dyes excitable with 630 nm laser light and emitting at around 660 nm have been developed. The new rhodamines are very photostable and have high fluorescence quantum yields of up to 80 %, long excited state lifetimes of 3.4 ns, and comparatively low intersystem-crossing rates. They perform very well both in conventional and in subdiffraction-resolution microscopy such as STED (stimulated emission depletion) and GSDIM (ground-state depletion with individual molecular return), as well as in single-molecule-based experiments such as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). Syntheses of lipophilic and hydrophilic derivatives starting from the same chromophore-containing scaffold are described. Introduction of two sulfo groups provides high solubility in water and a considerable rise in fluorescence quantum yield. The attachment of amino or thiol reactive groups allows the dyes to be used as fluorescent markers in biology. Dyes deuterated at certain positions have narrow and symmetrical molecular mass distribution patterns, and are proposed as new tags in MS or LC-MS for identification and quantification of various substance classes (e.g., amines and thiols) in complex mixtures. High-resolution GSDIM images and live-cell STED-FCS experiments on labeled microtubules and lipids prove the versatility of the novel probes for modern fluorescence microscopy and nanoscopy

New GM1 Ganglioside Derivatives for Selective Single and Double Labelling of the Natural Glycosphingolipid Skeleton

Selective single and double labelling of the natural ganglioside GM1. enables one to introduce various markers into different parts of the glycosphingolipid molecule without changing the natural skeleton. To that end, N-Fmoc-2amino-, N-Fmoc-18-amino- and S-(ethoxythiocarbonyl)-18mercaptostearic acids have been prepared, and. coupled with the primary amino group in the sphingosine part of lyso-GM1 and. deAc-deAcyl-GM1. gangliosides. The products of these coupling reactions - building blocks 16a, 16b, 16c, 26 and 27 - may be used for the synthesis of GM1 derivatives with one or two fluorescent dye moieties or other labels of various polarities. Examples of various labelling strategies, using hydrophilic and lipophilic photostable fluorescent dyes, have been made available. The GM1. derivatives 17a, 22a and 23c labelled with the fluorescent dye ATTO 647N or the doubly labelled derivative 25b can be used as probes in fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (in conventional, microscopy or stimulated emission depletion nanoscopy) to study the diffusion of lipid analogues in model or live cell membranes. © 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA