FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPIC STUDIES OF BIOMEMBRANES

02/07/2023

Chemistry Faculty Seminar Room

12:30

Arghyadeep Basu Chuntonov’s group, Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion

Physical-Chemistry Seminar

  Fluorescence Microscopic Studies of Biomembranes 

Cellular membrane is a thin barrier that encapsulates the cells and other organelles. It actively participates in selective cellular transport, cell signaling, and signal transduction.1,2 Therefore, the structural organization of membrane components and their dynamics is crucial for numerous life-supporting biochemical reactions. The biological membrane is chemically and structurally highly heterogeneous and mostly comprised of lipids bilayers. One of the most promising and widely used methods for examining the intricate structure of biological membranes is fluorescence microscopy. Fluorescently labeled lipid analogs or environment-sensitive fluorescent probes (e.g. laurdan, prodan, Di-4-ANEPPDHQ) are widely used to visualize the cellular membranes, as well as, biomimetic model membrane systems to investigate various physical properties of the membranes, such as phase separation, lipid diffusion, fluidity, or permeability.3,4 Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), and single particle tracking (SPT) are employed to obtain information about the diffusion of lipids of membrane proteins. More precise and high-resolution imaging of the heterogeneous architecture of biological membranes has become possible thanks to the development of super-resolution microscopy techniques like stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM), point accumulation in nanoscale topography (PAINT), photoactivated localization microscopy (PALM), single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM).5 Overall, in the literature seminar, I will discuss fluorescence microscopic research on the structure and dynamics in biomembranes.

References:

  1. Haucke, V.; Di Paolo, G. Lipids and Lipid Modifications in the Regulation of Membrane Traffic. Opin. Cell Biol. 2007, 19, 426.
  2. Sunshine, H.; Iruela-Arispe, M. L. Membrane Lipids and Cell Signaling. Opin. Lipidol. 2017, 28, 408.
  3. Demchenko, A. P.; Mély, Y.; Duportail, G.; Klymchenko, A. S. Monitoring Biophysical Properties of Lipid Membranes by Environment-Sensitive Fluorescent Probes. Biophysical Journal. Biophysical Society May 2009, pp 3461–3470.
  4. Klymchenko, A. S.; Kreder, R. Fluorescent Probes for Lipid Rafts: From Model Membranes to Living Cells. Biol. 2014, 21, 97–113.
  5. Sezgin, E.; Schwille, P. Fluorescence Techniques to Study Lipid Dynamics. Cold Spring Harb. Perspect. Biol. 2011, 3, a009803.