Silver Nanowire-Based Fluorescence Thermometer for a Single Cell

A fluorescence thermometer based on silver nanowires (AgNWs) is realized by assembling Texas Red (TR)-marked thermal-sensitive DNA stem loops (TR-DNA stem loop) on the surface of AgNWs. Temperature configures the structure of the TR-DNA stem loop and resultantly adjusts the energy transfer between TR and the AgNWs, which could sensitively control the fluorescence intensity of the thermometer. The thermometer is sensitive to the temperature ranging from 30 to 40 degrees C with the sensitivity of 2.6%/degrees C. Under the assistance of laser confocal microscopy, a temperature change within a single cell was observed by the monofilament AgNW-based thermometer.