Reactivatable stimulated emission depletion microscopy using fluorescence-recoverable nanographene
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.
Authors
- Márton Gelléri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2145-838X)
- Hao Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9125-617X)
- Mischa Bonn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6851-8453)
- Petri Turunen
- Ryota Kabe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3647-4262)
- Xingfu Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0952-4567)
- Ana Mateos‐Maroto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3286-9010)
- Katharina Landfester (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9591-4638)
- Werner Zuschratter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9845-6393)
- Svenja Morsbach (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9662-8190)
- Qiqi Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0101-3308)
- Marcus Scheele (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2704-3591)
- Sophia Westendorf
- Akimitsu Narita (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3625-522X)
- Meiyu Gai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8536-3115)
- Wei Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0745-9514)
- Goudappagouda Goudappagouda
- Antonio Virgilio Failla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7137-0506)
- Xiaomin Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6225-6322)
- Qiang Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5612-1504)
Institutions
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (JP)
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- Westlake University (CN)
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (DE)
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
- Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (DE)
- Institute of Molecular Biology (DE)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-02-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56401-z
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 8.17
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Universiteit Utrecht
- Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
- KU Leuven
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
- China Scholarship Council
- Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science