UNS:Visible/Near-Infrared Sub-diffraction Imaging of DNA Walkers

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AbstractChoi, Jong Hyun1512537The goal of this proposal is to develop a novel super-resolution scheme capable of simultaneous imaging in the visible and near-infrared range, and to use it for studying synthetic DNA walkers. DNA walkers are a class of nucleic acid and nanomachines that exhibit directional motion along a linear track. The proposed imaging strategy will be explored as a super-resolved bioanalytical platform to study single DNA motors.Current sub-diffraction imaging methods uses a spectral range up to ~900 nm, thus failing to exploit 0.9-1.4 micron window, the so-called near-infrared IIa (NIR-IIa) biological window where the photon penetration depth into biological substances is the greatest due to minimal scattering and autofluorescence. The ability to use this spectral window would open up new opportunities to obtain and transfer the information about thick biological materials. Multicolor sub-diffraction imaging will visualize a DNA walker that transports inorganic cargo particles (e.g. CdTe/CdS core-shell nanocrystal quantum dots) along a carbon nanotube track. The visible fluorescence emission of the nanoparticles will be used to locate the DNA walkers along the immobilized individual carbon nanotubes that fluoresce in the NIR-II range. The proposed program will couple the research efforts with educational and outreach activities designed to advance the public understanding of biophotonics. The effort includes active involvement of undergraduate students in multidisciplinary research. They will actively recruit female and underrepresented students at individual and institutional levels via collaboration with Women in Engineering and Minority Engineering Programs at Purdue University.