Abstract
Single gold-tagged epidermal growth factor (EGF) molecules bound to cellular EGF receptors of fixed fibroblast cells were imaged in liquid with a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). The cells were placed in buffer solution in a microfluidic device with electron transparent windows inside the vacuum of the electron microscope. A spatial resolution of 4 nm and a pixel dwell time of 20 μs were obtained. The liquid layer was sufficiently thick to contain the cells with a thickness of 7 ± 1 μm. The experimental findings are consistent with a theoretical calculation. Liquid STEM is a unique approach for imaging single molecules in whole cells with significantly improved resolution and imaging speed over existing methods.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2159-2164 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Volume | 106 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 17 2009 |
Keywords
- Cellular imaging
- Molecular labels