Nanodiamond Landmarks for Subcellular Multimodal Optical and Electron Imaging

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Zurbuchen, Mark A, Lake, Michael P, Kohan, Sirus A, Leung, Belinda, Louis-S Bouchard
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 21.06.2015
• Subjects: Biocompatibility; Biomolecules; Cellular structure; Conjugation; Diamonds; Drug delivery systems; Electron imaging; Fluorescence; Magnetic measurement; Nanostructure; Physics - Biological Physics; Physics - Medical Physics; Zooming
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1506.06339

There is a growing need for biolabels that can be used in both optical and electron microscopies, are non-cytotoxic, and do not photobleach. Such biolabels could enable targeted nanoscale imaging of sub-cellular structures, and help to establish correlations between conjugation-delivered biomolecules and function. Here we demonstrate a subcellular multi-modal imaging methodology that enables localization of inert particulate probes, consisting of nanodiamonds having fluorescent nitrogen-vacancy centers. These are functionalized to target specific structures, and are observable by both optical and electron microscopies. Nanodiamonds targeted to the nuclear pore complex are rapidly localized in electron-microscopy diffraction mode to enable "zooming-in" to regions of interest for detailed structural investigations. Optical microscopies reveal nanodiamonds for in-vitro tracking or uptake-confirmation. The approach is general, works down to the single nanodiamond level, and can leverage the unique capabilities of nanodiamonds, such as biocompatibility, sensitive magnetometry, and gene and drug delivery.