Addressable nanoantennas with cleared hotspots for single-molecule detection on a portable smartphone microscope

authored by
Kateryna Trofymchuk, Viktorija Glembockyte, Lennart Grabenhorst, Florian Steiner, Carolin Vietz, Cindy Close, Martina Pfeiffer, Lars Richter, Max L. Schütte, Florian Selbach, Renukka Yaadav, Jonas Zähringer, Qingshan Wei, Aydogan Ozcan, Birka Lalkens, Guillermo P. Acuna, Philip Tinnefeld
Abstract

The advent of highly sensitive photodetectors and the development of photostabilization strategies made detecting the fluorescence of single molecules a routine task in many labs around the world. However, to this day, this process requires cost-intensive optical instruments due to the truly nanoscopic signal of a single emitter. Simplifying single-molecule detection would enable many exciting applications, e.g., in point-of-care diagnostic settings, where costly equipment would be prohibitive. Here, we introduce addressable NanoAntennas with Cleared HOtSpots (NACHOS) that are scaffolded by DNA origami nanostructures and can be specifically tailored for the incorporation of bioassays. Single emitters placed in NACHOS emit up to 461-fold (average of 89 ± 7-fold) brighter enabling their detection with a customary smartphone camera and an 8-US-dollar objective lens. To prove the applicability of our system, we built a portable, battery-powered smartphone microscope and successfully carried out an exemplary single-molecule detection assay for DNA specific to antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella pneumonia on the road.

External Organisation(s)
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU)
Technische Universität Braunschweig
North Carolina State University
University of California (UCLA)
University of Fribourg
Type
Article
Journal
Nature Communications
Volume
12
ISSN
2041-1723
Publication date
11.02.2021
Publication status
Published
Peer reviewed
Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Chemistry(all), Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all), Physics and Astronomy(all)
Electronic version(s)
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21238-9 (Access: Open)