| First Author | Martino N | Year | 2019 |
| Journal | Nat Photonics | Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 10 | Pages | 720-727 |
| PubMed ID | 32231707 | Mgi Jnum | J:380004 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:8279092 | Doi | 10.1038/s41566-019-0489-0 |
| Citation | Martino N, et al. (2019) Wavelength-encoded laser particles for massively multiplexed cell tagging. Nat Photonics 13(10):720-727 |
| abstractText | Large-scale single-cell analyses have become increasingly important given the role of cellular heterogeneity in complex biological systems. However, no current techniques enable optical imaging of uniquely-tagged individual cells. Fluorescence-based approaches can only distinguish a small number of distinct cells or cell groups at a time because of spectral crosstalk between conventional fluorophores. Here we investigate large-scale cell tracking using intracellular laser particles as imaging probes that emit coherent laser light with a characteristic wavelength. Made of silica-coated semiconductor microcavities, these laser particles have single-mode emission over a broad range from 1170 to 1580 nm with sub-nm linewidths, enabling massive spectral multiplexing. We explore the stability and biocompatibility of these probes in vitro and their utility for wavelength-multiplexed cell tagging and imaging. We demonstrate real-time tracking of thousands of individual cells in a 3D tumour model over several days showing different behavioural phenotypes. |
