2026/02/03 by Laurell F. Kessler, Y. Li, Ashwin Balakrishnan +1 · 2 voices · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques #Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques #Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1021/acsnano.5c21411
Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy enables super-resolution imaging of complex biological samples in 3D, in large volumes, and live. However, molecular quantification with STED has remained underexplored. Here, we present a straightforward approach for quantitative STED that enables molecule counting. For this purpose, we designed DNA-fluorophore labels that enable signal amplification and allow for reliable intensity-based quantitative imaging. We demonstrate accurate molecule counting on DNA origami. Furthermore, we visualized and quantified EGF receptor monomers and dimers in cells. In summary, we introduce a robust, fast, and easy-to-implement tool for quantitative STED microscopy with single-protein resolution.