scholarly journals New single-molecule imaging of the eisosome BAR domain protein Pil1p reveals filament-like dynamics

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael M. Lacy ◽  
David Baddeley ◽  
Julien Berro
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Fluorescent Labeling ◽  
Imaging Protocol ◽  
Bar Domain ◽  
Heterogeneous Dynamics ◽  
Domain Protein ◽  
Dynamic Structures ◽  
Green Fluorescent ◽  
20 Nm

AbstractMolecular assemblies can have highly heterogeneous dynamics within the cell, but the limitations of conventional fluorescence microscopy can mask nanometer-scale features. We have developed a novel, broadly applicable, fluorescent labeling and imaging protocol, called Single-molecule Recovery After Photobleaching (SRAP), which allowed us to reveal the heterogeneous dynamics of the eisosome, a multi-protein structure on the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane in fungi. By fluorescently labeling only a small fraction of cellular Pil1p, the core eisosome BAR domain protein in fission yeast, we visualized whole eisosomes and, after photobleaching, recorded the binding of individual Pil1p molecules with ~20 nm precision. Further analysis of these dynamic structures and comparison to computer simulations allowed us to show that Pil1p exchange is spatially heterogeneous, supporting a new model of the eisosome as a dynamic filament.Abbreviations usedBARBin/Amphiphysin/Rvs domainFRAPFluorescence Recovery After PhotobleachingmEGFPmonomeric Enhanced Green Fluorescent ProteinSiR647silicon-rhodamine 647TIRFTotal Internal Reflection Fluorescence

Single-Molecule Microscopy of the Green Fluorescent Protein Using Simultaneous Two-Color Excitation

ChemPhysChem ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 392-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor Jung ◽  
Jens Wiehler ◽  
Boris Steipe ◽  
Christoph Bräuchle ◽  
Andreas Zumbusch
Keyword(s):  
Green Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Single Molecule Microscopy ◽  
Green Fluorescent

scholarly journals Single-Molecule Imaging and Computational Microscopy Approaches Clarify the Mechanism of the Dimerization and Membrane Interactions of Green Fluorescent Protein

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohua Wang ◽  
Kai Song ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Ling Tang ◽  
Xin Deng
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Green Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Hydrophobic Interactions ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Single Amino Acid ◽  
Single Mutation ◽  
Functional Protein ◽  
Green Fluorescent

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) is widely used as a biomarker in living systems; however, GFP and its variants are prone to forming low-affinity dimers under physiological conditions. This undesirable tendency is exacerbated when fluorescent proteins (FP) are confined to membranes, fused to naturally-oligomeric proteins, or expressed at high levels in cells. Oligomerization of FPs introduces artifacts into the measurement of subunit stoichiometry, as well as interactions between proteins fused to FPs. Introduction of a single mutation, A206K, has been shown to disrupt hydrophobic interactions in the region responsible for GFP dimerization, thereby contributing to its monomerization. Nevertheless, a detailed understanding of how this single amino acid-dependent inhibition of dimerization in GFP occurs at the atomic level is still lacking. Single-molecule experiments combined with computational microscopy (atomistic molecular dynamics) revealed that the amino group of A206 contributes to GFP dimer formation via a multivalent electrostatic interaction. We further showed that myristoyl modification is an efficient mechanism to promote membrane attachment of GFP. Molecular dynamics-based site-directed mutagenesis has been used to identify the key functional residues in FPs. The data presented here have been utilized as a monomeric control in downstream single-molecule studies, facilitating more accurate stoichiometry quantification of functional protein complexes in living cells.

scholarly journals Small fluorescence-activating and absorption-shifting tag for tunable protein imaging in vivo

2015 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Aude Plamont ◽  
Emmanuelle Billon-Denis ◽  
Sylvie Maurin ◽  
Carole Gauron ◽  
Frederico M. Pimenta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Fluorescent Proteins ◽  
Fluorescent Labeling ◽  
Activation Mechanism ◽  
Photoactive Yellow Protein ◽  
Reversible Binding ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Rapid Labeling ◽  
Green Fluorescent

This paper presents Yellow Fluorescence-Activating and absorption-Shifting Tag (Y-FAST), a small monomeric protein tag, half as large as the green fluorescent protein, enabling fluorescent labeling of proteins in a reversible and specific manner through the reversible binding and activation of a cell-permeant and nontoxic fluorogenic ligand (a so-called fluorogen). A unique fluorogen activation mechanism based on two spectroscopic changes, increase of fluorescence quantum yield and absorption red shift, provides high labeling selectivity. Y-FAST was engineered from the 14-kDa photoactive yellow protein by directed evolution using yeast display and fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Y-FAST is as bright as common fluorescent proteins, exhibits good photostability, and allows the efficient labeling of proteins in various organelles and hosts. Upon fluorogen binding, fluorescence appears instantaneously, allowing monitoring of rapid processes in near real time. Y-FAST distinguishes itself from other tagging systems because the fluorogen binding is highly dynamic and fully reversible, which enables rapid labeling and unlabeling of proteins by addition and withdrawal of the fluorogen, opening new exciting prospects for the development of multiplexing imaging protocols based on sequential labeling.

scholarly journals Dynamic elastic behavior of alpha-satellite DNA domains visualized in situ in living human cells.

1996 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
R D Shelby ◽  
K M Hahn ◽  
K F Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Dna ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Fluorescent Labeling ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Elastic Behavior ◽  
Alpha Satellite ◽  
Alpha Satellite Dna ◽  
Green Fluorescent

We have constructed a fluorescent alpha-satellite DNA-binding protein to explore the motile and mechanical properties of human centromeres. A fusion protein consisting of human CENP-B coupled to the green fluorescent protein (GFP) of A. victoria specifically targets to centromeres when expressed in human cells. Morphometric analysis revealed that the alpha-satellite DNA domain bound by CENPB-GFP becomes elongated in mitosis in a microtubule-dependent fashion. Time lapse confocal microscopy in live mitotic cells revealed apparent elastic deformations of the central domain of the centromere that occurred during metaphase chromosome oscillations. These observations demonstrate that the interior region of the centromere behaves as an elastic element that could play a role in the mechanoregulatory mechanisms recently identified at centromeres. Fluorescent labeling of centromeres revealed that they disperse throughout the nucleus in a nearly isometric expansion during chromosome decondensation in telophase and early G1. During interphase, centromeres were primarily stationary, although motility of individual or small groups of centromeres was occasionally observed at very slow rates of 7-10 microns/h.

scholarly journals Mechanically switching single-molecule fluorescence of GFP by unfolding and refolding

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (42) ◽  
pp. 11052-11056 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziad Ganim ◽  
Matthias Rief
Keyword(s):  
Optical Tweezers ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Optical Sensors ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Single Molecule Fluorescence ◽  
Extended States ◽  
Green Fluorescent ◽  
Ensemble Experiments

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) variants are widely used as genetically encoded fluorescent fusion tags, and there is an increasing interest in engineering their structure to develop in vivo optical sensors, such as for optogenetics and force transduction. Ensemble experiments have shown that the fluorescence of GFP is quenched upon denaturation. Here we study the dependence of fluorescence on protein structure by driving single molecules of GFP into different conformational states with optical tweezers and simultaneously probing the chromophore with fluorescence. Our results show that fluorescence is lost during the earliest events in unfolding, 3.5 ms before secondary structure is disrupted. No fluorescence is observed from the unfolding intermediates or the ensemble of compact and extended states populated during refolding. We further demonstrate that GFP can be mechanically switched between emissive and dark states. These data definitively establish that complete structural integrity is necessary to observe single-molecule fluorescence of GFP.

scholarly journals RacF1, a Novel Member of the Rho Protein Family inDictyostelium discoideum, Associates Transiently with Cell Contact Areas, Macropinosomes, and Phagosomes

1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1205-1219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Rivero ◽  
Richard Albrecht ◽  
Heidrun Dislich ◽  
Enrico Bracco ◽  
Laura Graciotti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope ◽  
Confocal Laser ◽  
Cell Contact ◽  
Rho Family ◽  
Phagocytic Cups ◽  
Dynamic Structures ◽  
Green Fluorescent ◽  
Cytoskeletal Rearrangements

Using a PCR approach we have isolated racF1, a novel member of the Rho family in Dictyostelium. TheracF1 gene encodes a protein of 193 amino acids and is constitutively expressed throughout the Dictyosteliumlife cycle. Highest identity (94%) was found to a RacF2 isoform, toDictyostelium Rac1A, Rac1B, and Rac1C (70%), and to Rac proteins of animal species (64–69%). To investigate the role of RacF1 in cytoskeleton-dependent processes, we have fused it at its amino-terminus with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and studied the dynamics of subcellular redistribution using a confocal laser scanning microscope and a double-view microscope system. GFP–RacF1 was homogeneously distributed in the cytosol and accumulated at the plasma membrane, especially at regions of transient intercellular contacts. GFP–RacF1 also localized transiently to macropinosomes and phagocytic cups and was gradually released within <1 min after formation of the endocytic vesicle or the phagosome, respectively. On stimulation with cAMP, no enrichment of GFP–RacF1 was observed in leading fronts, from which it was found to be initially excluded. Cell lines were obtained using homologous recombination that expressed a truncatedracF1 gene lacking sequences encoding the carboxyl-terminal region responsible for membrane targeting. These cells displayed normal phagocytosis, endocytosis, and exocytosis rates. Our results suggest that RacF1 associates with dynamic structures that are formed during pinocytosis and phagocytosis. Although RacF1 appears not to be essential, it might act in concert and/or share functions with other members of the Rho family in the regulation of a subset of cytoskeletal rearrangements that are required for these processes.

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