Study of polymer systems and organic fluorescent probes by super-resolution optical microscopy

• Grant number: 13/09965-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Effective date (Start): July 01, 2013
• Effective date (End): June 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Henrique Gehlen
• Grantee: Milena Helmer Lauer
• Supervisor: Johan Hofkens
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química de São Carlos (IQSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of Leuven, Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium
• Associated to the scholarship: 11/08727-1 - Study of organic probes and strategies of DNA fluorescent labelling: from basic photochemistry to super-resolution optical microscopy, BP.DD

Abstract

The optical microscopy, mainly fluorescence microscopy, is one of the tools most widely used for the study of biological systems, dynamics of polymer systems, catalysts, dendrimers between others, because of its high selectivity and sensitivity. A physical barrier, that is the diffraction of light, makes the spatial resolution be in the range of 200 and 300 nm, and the images of close fluorophores and subcellular structures unresolvable. However, these challenges have stimulated the advance of the super-resolution fluorescence microscopy techniques, which have been invented to overcome the diffraction barrier, like defocused wide-field microscopy, STED and STORM. These techniques have achieved a resolution of about 20 nm. The advances of the fluorescence microscopy have allowed the single molecule detection in the spatial and temporal domains. Most remarkable is that the behavior of individual systems may be compared to the macroscopic systems.In this context, the study of new fluorescent probes for optical microscopy is crucial. We are studying in the Molecular Fluorescence Group at IQSC a new class of fluorescent probes, the phenanthrene derivatives. They show good photochemical stability and the particularity that their structures are similar, in parts, with the compounds used as single-molecule microscopy standards. Therefore, in this project we intend to apply single-molecule microscopy to study the phenanthrene derivatives dyes attached to particles as well as the use of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy to analyze the dynamics of polymer systems. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LAUER, MILENA HELMER; VRANKEN, CHARLOTTE; DEEN, JOCHEM; FREDERICKX, WOUT; VANDERLINDEN, WILLEM; WAND, NATHANIEL; LEEN, VOLKER; GEHLEN, MARCELO H.; HOFKENS, JOHAN; NEELY, ROBERT K.. Methyltransferase-directed covalent coupling of fluorophores to DNA. CHEMICAL SCIENCE, v. 8, n. 5, p. 3804-3811, MAY 2017. (11/08727-1, 13/09965-9)