Measuring ligand–receptor binding kinetics and dynamics using k-space image correlation spectroscopy

Rapid ensemble measurement of protein diffusion and probe blinking dynamics in cells

We present a fluorescence fluctuation image correlation analysis method that can rapidly and simultaneously measure the diffusion coefficient, photoblinking rates, and fraction of diffusing particles of fluorescent molecules in cells. Unlike other image correlation techniques, we demonstrated that our method could be applied irrespective of a nonuniformly distributed, immobile blinking fluorophore population. This allows us to measure blinking and transport dynamics in complex cell morphologies, a benefit for a range of super-resolution fluorescence imaging approaches that rely on probe emission blinking. Furthermore, we showed that our technique could be applied without directly accounting for photobleaching. We successfully employed our technique on several simulations with realistic EMCCD noise and photobleaching models, as well as on Dronpa-C12-labeled β-actin in living NIH/3T3 and HeLa cells. We found that the diffusion coefficients measured using our method were consistent with previous literature values. We further found that photoblinking rates measured in the live HeLa cells varied as expected with changing excitation power.

Disruption of membrane cholesterol organization impairs the activity of PIEZO1 channel clusters

The human mechanosensitive ion channel PIEZO1 is gated by membrane tension and regulates essential biological processes such as vascular development and erythrocyte volume homeostasis. Currently, little is known about PIEZO1 plasma membrane localization and organization. Using a PIEZO1-GFP fusion protein, we investigated whether cholesterol enrichment or depletion by methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MBCD) and disruption of membrane cholesterol organization by dynasore affects PIEZO1-GFP's response to mechanical force. Electrophysiological recordings in the cell-attached configuration revealed that MBCD caused a rightward shift in the PIEZO1-GFP pressure-response curve, increased channel latency in response to mechanical stimuli, and markedly slowed channel inactivation. The same effects were seen in native PIEZO1 in N2A cells. STORM superresolution imaging revealed that, at the nanoscale, PIEZO1-GFP channels in the membrane associate as clusters sensitive to membrane manipulation. Both cluster distribution and diffusion rates were affected by treatment with MBCD (5 mM). Supplementation of polyunsaturated fatty acids appeared to sensitize the PIEZO1-GFP response to applied pressure. Together, our results indicate that PIEZO1 function is directly dependent on the membrane composition and lateral organization of membrane cholesterol domains, which coordinate the activity of clustered PIEZO1 channels.

Studying GPCR Pharmacology in Membrane Microdomains: Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy Comes of Age

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are organised within the cell membrane into highly ordered macromolecular complexes along with other receptors and signalling proteins. Understanding how heterogeneity in these complexes affects the pharmacology and functional response of these receptors is crucial for developing new and more selective ligands. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and related techniques such as photon counting histogram (PCH) analysis and image-based FCS can be used to interrogate the properties of GPCRs in these membrane microdomains, as well as their interaction with fluorescent ligands. FCS analyses fluorescence fluctuations within a small-defined excitation volume to yield information about their movement, concentration and molecular brightness (aggregation). These techniques can be used on live cells with single-molecule sensitivity and high spatial resolution. Once the preserve of specialist equipment, FCS techniques can now be applied using standard confocal microscopes. This review describes how FCS and related techniques have revealed novel insights into GPCR biology.

An Intermittent Model for Intracellular Motions of Gold Nanostars by k-Space Scattering Image Correlation

Anisotropic metallic nanoparticles have been devised as powerful potential tools for in vivo imaging, photothermal therapy, and drug delivery thanks to plasmon-enhanced absorption and scattering cross sections, ease in synthesis and functionalization, and controlled cytotoxicity. The rational design of all these applications requires the characterization of the nanoparticles intracellular trafficking pathways. In this work, we exploit live-cell time-lapse confocal reflectance microscopy and image correlation in both direct and reciprocal space to investigate the intracellular transport of branched gold nanostars (GNSs). Different transport mechanisms, spanning from pure Brownian diffusion to (sub-)ballistic superdiffusion, are revealed by temporal and spatio-temporal image correlation spectroscopy on the tens-of-seconds timescale. According to these findings, combined with numerical simulations and with a Bayesian (hidden Markov model-based) analysis of single particle tracking data, we ascribe the superdiffusive, subballistic behavior characterizing the GNSs dynamics to a two-state switching between Brownian diffusion in the cytoplasm and molecular motor-mediated active transport. For the investigation of intermittent-type transport phenomena, we derive an analytical theoretical framework for Fourier-space image correlation spectroscopy (kICS). At first, we evaluate the influence of all the dynamic and kinetic parameters (the diffusion coefficient, the drift velocity, and the transition rates between the diffusive and the active transport regimes) on simulated kICS correlation functions. Then we outline a protocol for data analysis and employ it to derive whole-cell maps for each parameter underlying the GNSs intracellular dynamics. Capable of identifying even simpler transport phenomena, whether purely diffusive or ballistic, our intermittent kICS approach allows an exhaustive investigation of the dynamics of GNSs and biological macromolecules.