Reactivatable stimulated emission depletion microscopy using fluorescence-recoverable nanographene.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39904997.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-56401-z and PMC identifier 11794581.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, a key optical super-resolution imaging method, has extended our ability to view details to resolution levels of tens of nanometers. Its resolution depends on fluorophore de-excitation efficiency, and increases with depletion laser power. However, high-power irradiation permanently turns off the fluorescence due to photo-bleaching of the fluorophores. As a result, there is a trade-off between spatial resolution and imaging time. Here, we overcome this limitation by introducing reactivatable STED (ReSTED) based on the photophysical properties of the nanographene dibenzo[hi,st]ovalene (DBOV). In contrast to the photo-induced decomposition of other fluorophores, the fluorescence of DBOV is only temporarily deactivated and can be reactivated by near-infrared light (including the 775 nm depletion beam). As a result, this fluorophore allows for hours-long, high-resolution 3D STED imaging, greatly expanding the applications of STED microscopy.