Aptamer-Based Cell Nucleus Imaging via Expansion Microscopy.

Yue Sun, Zhicheng Zhang, Tao Bing, Jing Liu, Weiwei Li, Xiangjun Liu, Nan Zhang, Yang Shu, Jianhua Wang, Dihua Shangguan

Analytical chemistry 2022 Apr 19

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Expansion microscopy (ExM) is a newly developed technology in recent years that enables nanoscale imaging under conventional microscopes. Herein, we report an aptamer-based ExM imaging strategy. A nucleus-targeting aptamer Ch4-1 was chemically labeled with a dye and an acrydite at each end to perform the functions of molecular recognition, fluorescence reporting, and gel anchoring. After binding cell nucleus, the dual labeled aptamer Ac-Ch4-1-FAM directly participated in gelation and anchored in polyacrylamide gel. After expanding the gel, high-resolution imaging was achieved by confocal microscopy. Multicolor ExM imaging was also realized by combining Ac-Ch4-1-FAM, antibodies and fluorescent dyes. This aptamer-based ExM could clearly image the chromatin morphology at different mitotic stages. The expansion process is simple and the aptamer labeling is easy. The aptamer-based ExM holds great promise in super-resolution imaging of cells and tissues.

Citation

Yue Sun, Zhicheng Zhang, Tao Bing, Jing Liu, Weiwei Li, Xiangjun Liu, Nan Zhang, Yang Shu, Jianhua Wang, Dihua Shangguan. Aptamer-Based Cell Nucleus Imaging via Expansion Microscopy. Analytical chemistry. 2022 Apr 19;94(15):6044-6049