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Subnanometer-Precision Measurements of Transmembrane Motions of Biomolecules in Plasma Membranes Using Quenchers in Extracellular Environment.

Wenqing HouDongfei MaXiaolong HeWeijing HanJianbing MaHao WangChunhua XuRuipei XieQihui FanFangfu YeShuxin HuMing LiYing Lu
Published in: Nano letters (2020)
Characterization of biomolecular dynamics at cellular membranes lags far behind that in solutions because of challenges to measure transmembrane trafficking with subnanometer precision. Herein, by introducing nonfluorescent quenchers into extracellular environment of live cells, we adopted Förster resonance energy transfer from one donor to multiple quenchers to measure positional changes of biomolecules in plasma membranes. We demonstrated the method by monitoring flip-flops of individual lipids and by capturing transient states of the host defense peptide LL-37 in plasma membranes. The method was also applied to investigate the interaction of the necroptosis-associated protein MLKL with plasma membranes, showing a few distinct depths of MLKL insertion. Our method is especially powerful to quantitate the dynamics of proteins at the cytosolic leaflets of plasma membranes which are usually not accessible by conventional techniques. The method will find wide applications in the systematic analysis of fundamental cellular processes at plasma membranes.
Keyphrases
  • energy transfer
  • cell proliferation
  • cell death
  • blood brain barrier
  • fatty acid
  • cerebral ischemia