Version 1
: Received: 26 May 2019 / Approved: 28 May 2019 / Online: 28 May 2019 (10:13:50 CEST)
Version 2
: Received: 7 July 2019 / Approved: 8 July 2019 / Online: 8 July 2019 (14:55:07 CEST)
Hagai, D.; Lerner, E. Systematic Assessment of Burst Impurity in Confocal-Based Single-Molecule Fluorescence Detection Using Brownian Motion Simulations. Molecules2019, 24, 2557.
Hagai, D.; Lerner, E. Systematic Assessment of Burst Impurity in Confocal-Based Single-Molecule Fluorescence Detection Using Brownian Motion Simulations. Molecules 2019, 24, 2557.
Hagai, D.; Lerner, E. Systematic Assessment of Burst Impurity in Confocal-Based Single-Molecule Fluorescence Detection Using Brownian Motion Simulations. Molecules2019, 24, 2557.
Hagai, D.; Lerner, E. Systematic Assessment of Burst Impurity in Confocal-Based Single-Molecule Fluorescence Detection Using Brownian Motion Simulations. Molecules 2019, 24, 2557.
Abstract
Single-molecule fluorescence detection (SMFD) experiments are useful in distinguishing sub-populations of molecular species when measuring heterogeneous samples. One experimental platform for SMFD is based on a confocal microscope, where molecules randomly traverse an effective detection volume. The non-uniformity of the excitation profile and the random nature of Brownian motion, produce fluctuating fluorescence signals. For these signals to be distinguished from the background, burst analysis is frequently used. Yet, the relation between the results of burst analyses and the underlying information of the diffusing molecules is still obscure and requires systematic assessment. In this work we performed three-dimensional Brownian motion simulations of SMFD, and tested the positions at which molecules emitted photons that passed the burst analysis criteria for different values of burst analysis parameters. The results of this work verify which of the burst analysis parameters and experimental conditions influence both the position of molecules in space when fluorescence is detected and taken into account, and whether these bursts of photons arise purely from single molecules, or not entirely. Finally, we show, as an example, the effect of bursts that are not purely from a single molecule on the accuracy in single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer measurements.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Received:
8 July 2019
Commenter:
Eitan Lerner
Commenter's Conflict of Interests:
Author
Comment:
A revised version of our original research article entitled “Systematic assessment of burst impurity in confocal-based single-molecule fluorescence detection using Brownian motion simulations” by Hagai and Lerner
Commenter: Eitan Lerner
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author