A series of spontaneously blinking dyes for super-resolution microscopy

Nature Methods 2026 Open access

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Authors: Katie L. Holland, Sarah E. Plutkis, Brian P. English, Timothy A. Daugird, Abhishek Sau, Jonathan B. Grimm, Qinsi Zheng, Ankith Sharma, Sandeep Dave, Anja Schmidt, Fariha Rahman, Liangqi Xie
+9 more Peng Dong, Ariana N. Tkachuk, Timothy A. Brown, Robert H. Singer, Zhe Liu, Siegfried M. Musser, Wesley R. Legant, Catherine G. Galbraith, Luke D. Lavis
DOI: 10.1038/s41592-026-03062-5
Cited by: 28
References: 39

Abstract

Spontaneously blinking fluorophores toggle between nonfluorescent and fluorescent forms without caging groups or redox buffers, enabling super-resolution imaging. The intrinsic blinking of such dyes is governed by molecular structure and modulated by environment; there is no one-size-fits-all fluorophore suitable for every imaging context. We report dyes with tuned on:off ratios that enable single-molecule localization microscopy and super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging of biomolecular structures in vitro and in cells.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications Optical Coherence Tomography Applications

Publication details

Journal / source
Nature Methods
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Volume
23
Issue
5
Pages
909–913
Publication date
15 April 2026
Language
EN