Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 1: Imaging

BP 1.9: Talk

Monday, March 16, 2015, 12:00–12:15, H 1028

Visualization of subcellular temperature changes in living cells utilizing the nitrogen vacancy center — •Torsten Rendler, Zhiqin Chu, Andrea Zappe, and Joerg Wrachtrup — 3. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart

For mammals which can maintain thermal homeostasis, temperature is vital to their life. Visualization of temperature change on subcellular organelles in living cells thus give a basic understanding of life science such as cell metabolism, cell division and gene expression. Despite the high impact to life science brought by such measurement, developing a precise and long term reliable thermometer in living cells has not been achieved. Although intracellular temperature gradients in the range of ~ kelveins in living cells have been found, it is still under debate if the existence of such temperature gradients on cellular level is reasonable. In our study, we use the nitrogen vacancy (NV), a color center in diamond, to monitor the temporal and spatial temperature change inside living cells. Embedded in nanometer sized diamond crystals, the NV centers becomes a localized sensor, capable of measuring the local temperature independently of their environment, i.e., pH, ionic strength and surrounding biomacromolecules. Our findings indicated that nanodiamonds with NV centers can serve as a nano-scaled thermometer in cellular thermal biology.