| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,030,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥930,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000)
Fiscal Year 2011: ¥2,860,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥660,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Fluorescence microscopy is used extensively in biomedical research, but it is often plagued by three major problems with the presently available fluorescent probes: photobleaching, blinking, and large size. We have developed biocompatible, fluorescent silicon nanocrystals (SiNCs), with special attention to single-molecule imaging. Methods for producing SiNCs by simple chemical etching, for hydrophilically coating them, and for conjugating precisely 1 SiNC to 1 protein molecule were developed. Single SiNCs neither blinked nor photobleached during a 300-min overall period observed at video rate. Single receptor molecules in the plasma membrane of living cells were imaged for ≥10 times longer than with other probes, making it possible for the first time to observe the internalization process of receptor molecules at the single-molecule level. Micron-scale spatial variations of molecular diffusivity, i.e., a higher level of domain mosaicism in the plasma membrane, were revealed.
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