14th Biophysics and Physicobiology Award

Takeharu Sekiguchi, Shingo Sotoma and Yoshie Harada
Fluorescent nanodiamonds as a robust temperature sensor inside a single cell. 15 Pages 229-234

Reason for the Award

The temperature sensing ability of commonly used fluorescence-based sensors is easily affected by environmental factors, which has been a major concern in real bio-applications. In the Sekiguchi study, they demonstrated that the temperature sensing ability of a new type of temperature sensor, fluorescent nanodiamonds with negatively charged nitrogen vacancy centers, is almost unaffected by environmental factors such as pH, ion concentration, viscosity, molecular interactions, and organic solvents. This robustness makes fluorescent nanodiamonds a reliable thermometer even in complex biological cellular environments. Furthermore, the simple protocol developed here to measure the absolute temperature inside a single cell using a single fluorescent nanodiamond enables intracellular temperature measurement with an accuracy better than ±1°C.
Thus, this is an outstanding paper that presents a highly valuable, precise, and broadly applicable method for measuring temperature inside a single cell, and it is expected to facilitate further advancements across various scientific disciplines.

June, 2025
Biophysics and Physicobiology Award Selection Committee

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