Single NanoParticle Photothermal Tracking (SNaPT) of 5 nm gold beads in live cells

David Lasne (1) , Gerhard A. Blab (1) , Stéphane Berciaud (1) , Martin Heine (2) , Laurent Groc (2) , Daniel Choquet (2) , Laurent Cognet (1) , Brahim Lounis (1)

1 CPMOH - Centre de physique moléculaire optique et hertzienne
2 PCS - Physiologie cellulaire de la synapse

Tracking individual nano-objets in live cells during arbitrary long times is an ubiquitous need in modern biology. We present here a method for tracking individual 5 nm gold nanoparticles on live cells. It relies on the photothermal effect and the detection of the Laser Induced Scattering around a NanoAbsorber (LISNA). The key point for recording trajectories at video rate is the use of a triangulation procedure. The effectiveness of the method is tested against Single fluorescent Molecule Tracking in live COS7 cells on subsecond time scales. We further demonstrate recordings for several minutes of AMPA receptors trajectories on the plasma membrane of live neurons. SNaPT has the unique potential to record arbitrary long trajectory of membrane proteins using non-fluorescent nanometer sized labels.

Mots clés: single molecule; single particle tracking; photothermal

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]; Biophysique [physics.bio-ph]

David Lasne, Gerhard A. Blab, Stéphane Berciaud, Martin Heine, Laurent Groc, et al.. Single NanoParticle Photothermal Tracking (SNaPT) of 5 nm gold beads in live cells. Biophysical Journal, 2006, 91 (12), pp.4598. ⟨10.1529/biophysj.106.089771⟩. ⟨hal-00143902v2⟩