Regensburg 2019 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 12: Poster II

BP 12.14: Poster

Dienstag, 2. April 2019, 14:00–16:00, Poster B2

Targeted near infrared sensing and imaging with GFP-nanobody nanotube hybrids — Florian Mann, Jörg Grosshans, Felipe Opazo, and •Sebastian Kruss — Göttingen University, Göttingen, Germany

Fluorescent nanomaterials have many advantages in terms of their photophysics but it is difficult to target them to specific locations in living systems. In contrast, the green fluorescent protein (GFP) can be genetically targeted to proteins in cells or animals. Therefore, GFP can be seen not only as a fluorophore but as a universal target/handle. Moreover, many transgenic organisms or transfected cells are available. We wanted to combine the advantage of GFP targeting and fluorescent nanomaterials. Therefore, we conjugated a GFP nanobody to near infrared (nIR) fluorescent single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). SWCNTs fluoresce in the nIR tissue transparency window (900 nm -1700 nm) and do not bleach. The GFP nanobody serves as recognition unit for GFP and the SWCNT serves as superior nIR fluorophore. These hybrids were then used in biological experiments to demonstrate the versatility of this approach. First, we demonstrated that it is possible to label single GFP-tagged kinesin motors in living drosophila embryos and track their directional movement during embryogenesis. Second, we labeled the cytoskeleton in mammalian cells in the nIR. Finally, we targeted cell surface receptors and used the SWCNTs fluorescence for sensing and to detect the neurotransmitter dopamine. In summary, we show that GFP nanobody conjugated SWCNTs show great potential for targeted nIR imaging, sensing and labeling.