Review—Advances in Surface Plasmon Resonance Microscopy and Its Applications to Single Cells, Viruses, and Molecules

Abstract

Due to its high sensitivity and temporal resolution, surface plasmon resonance microscopy (SPRM) is currently widely used in biological analysis. In this review, we briefly introduce the principle and setup of SPRM. Applications in label-free biological analysis are also indicated, including fast detection to single cells, exosomes, viruses, and molecules, as well as their dynamic behaviors. The limitations of SPRM are also depicted. The methods to improve the focus drift and low spatial resolution are illustrated. Two newly-developed microscopy techniques based on SPRM, i. e. plasmonic scattering microscope and electrochemical impedance microscope, are also described. Finally, a summary of SPRM technique and a bright future outlook is presented.

Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensors: A Review of Molecular Imaging with High Spatial Resolution

“…Spatial resolution is vitally important for molecular imaging. While some reviews have been published targeting working principles, setups, and applications [55,[93][94][95][96][97][98], they lack a focus on the increment of spatial resolution. In this minireview, we will start with an overview of the principles and instrumentation of an imaging methodology based on SPR.…”

Switching on Versatility: Recent Advances in Switchable Plasmonic Nanostructures

“…SPPs are typically associated with propagating waves that extend across a metal-dielectric interface, leading to vast advances in applications such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing and imaging. [3][4][5][6] Another important aspect of plasmonics is localized SPR (LSPR). LSPR occurs when the collective electron oscillation is confined to a subwavelength region or a nanoscale structure itself, leading to highly enhanced electromagnetic local fields.…”

Polarization-Sensitive Asymmetric Scattering at the Single-Particle Scale via Surface Plasmon Resonance Microscopy

“…Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is a physical optical phenomenon that induces the propagation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) at the metal-dielectric interface under the excitation of electromagnetic waves with P polarization (TM polarization). − SPPs interact with evanescent waves that penetrate a thin metal film through total internal reflection. This interaction results in the formation of resonance modes at the interface, enabling the development of biosensing analysis techniques for studying biomolecular interactions. , This technology has found widespread application in various fields such as life sciences, medical diagnosis, food safety, and environmental monitoring. − By combining SPR with high numerical aperture (NA) objectives, near-field research at the interface has been extended to the single-particle nanoscale using high-resolution surface plasmon resonance microscopy (SPRM). − Particularly, the parabolic tails of wave patterns formed by SPPs scattering from single nano-objects at the interface constitute the typical feature of dynamic identification and detection of single molecules by SPRM . This scattering pattern has provided new insights into the electrochemical reactions, catalytic processes, electron transfer processes of single nanoparticles, as well as the dynamics analysis of single viruses, organelles, DNA molecules, proteins, and exosomes, relying on the characteristic scattering pattern.…”