A fluorescence correlation spectrometer for measurements in cuvettes

ABSTRACT We have developed a fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) setup for performing single molecule measurements on samples inside regular cuvettes. We built this by using an Extra Long Working Distance (ELWD), 0.7 NA, air objective with working distance > 1.8 mm. We have achieved counts per molecule > 44 kHz, diffusion time < 64 μs for rhodamine B in aqueous buffer and a confocal volume < 2 fl. The cuvette-FCS can be used for measurements over a wide range of temperature that is beyond the range permitted in the microscope-based FCS. Finally, we demonstrate that cuvette-FCS can be coupled to automatic titrators to study urea dependent unfolding of proteins with unprecedented accuracy. The ease of use and compatibility with various accessories will enable applications of cuvette-FCS in the experiments that are regularly performed in fluorimeters but are generally avoided in microscope-based FCS.