Electrochemical fluorescence switching of enhanced green fluorescent protein

• DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2023.115467
• Publication Date: 2023-06-25T14:14:49Z
• Authors: Ying Yang; Sanjun Fan; James A. Webb; Yuanqing Ma; Jesse Goyette; Xueqian Chen; Katharina Gaus; Richard D. Tilley; J. Justin Gooding
• Keywords: anzsrc-for: 40 Engineering; 4003 Biomedical Engineering; anzsrc-for: 4003 Biomedical Engineering; anzsrc-for: 0903 Biomedical Engineering; anzsrc-for: 3401 Analytical chemistry; anzsrc-for: 0301 Analytical Chemistry; 4018 Nanotechnology; anzsrc-for: 4018 Nanotechnology; 540; anzsrc-for: 1007 Nanotechnology; 40 Engineering; 543

Switchable fluorescent proteins, for which fluorescence can be switched ON and OFF, are widely used for molecule tracking and super resolution imaging. However, the robust use of the switchable fluorescent proteins is still limited as either the switching is not repeatable, or such switching requires irradiation with coupled lasers of different wavelengths. Herein, we report an electrochemical approach to reversible fluorescence switching for enhanced green fluorescent proteins (EGFP) on indium tin oxide coated glass. Our results demonstrate that negative and positive electrochemical potentials can efficiently switch the fluorescent proteins between the dim (OFF) and bright (ON) states at the single molecule level. The electrochemical fluorescence switching is fast, reversible, and may be performed up to hundreds of cycles before photobleaching occurs. These findings highlight that this method of electrochemical fluorescence switching can be incorporated into advanced fluorescence microscopy.