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Schneider F, Cespedes PF, Karedla N, Dustin ML, Fritzsche M. Quantifying biomolecular organisation in membranes with brightness-transit statistics. Nat Commun 2024; 15:7082. [PMID: 39152104 PMCID: PMC11329664 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51435-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 08/07/2024] [Indexed: 08/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Cells crucially rely on the interactions of biomolecules at their plasma membrane to maintain homeostasis. Yet, a methodology to systematically quantify biomolecular organisation, measuring diffusion dynamics and oligomerisation, represents an unmet need. Here, we introduce the brightness-transit statistics (BTS) method based on fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy and combine information from brightness and transit times to elucidate biomolecular diffusion and oligomerisation in both cell-free in vitro and in vitro systems incorporating living cells. We validate our approach in silico with computer simulations and experimentally using oligomerisation of EGFP tethered to supported lipid bilayers. We apply our pipeline to study the oligomerisation of CD40 ectodomain in vitro and endogenous CD40 on primary B cells. While we find a potential for CD40 to oligomerize in a concentration or ligand depended manner, we do not observe mobile oligomers on B cells. The BTS method combines sensitive analysis, quantification, and intuitive visualisation of dynamic biomolecular organisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Falk Schneider
- Kennedy Institute for Rheumatology, Roosevelt Drive, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7LF, United Kingdom.
- Translational Imaging Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 90089, United States of America.
| | - Pablo F Cespedes
- Kennedy Institute for Rheumatology, Roosevelt Drive, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7LF, United Kingdom
| | - Narain Karedla
- Kennedy Institute for Rheumatology, Roosevelt Drive, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7LF, United Kingdom
- Rosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Campus, Didcot, OX11 0FA, United Kingdom
| | - Michael L Dustin
- Kennedy Institute for Rheumatology, Roosevelt Drive, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7LF, United Kingdom
| | - Marco Fritzsche
- Kennedy Institute for Rheumatology, Roosevelt Drive, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7LF, United Kingdom.
- Rosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Campus, Didcot, OX11 0FA, United Kingdom.
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Mørch AM, Schneider F. Investigating Diffusion Dynamics and Interactions with Scanning Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (sFCS). Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2654:61-89. [PMID: 37106176 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3135-5_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Activation of immune cells and formation of immunological synapses (IS) rely critically on the reorganization of the plasma membrane. These highly orchestrated processes are driven by diffusion and oligomerization dynamics, as well as by single molecule interactions. While slow macro- and meso-scale changes in organization can be observed with conventional imaging, fast nano-scale dynamics are often missed with traditional approaches, but resolving them is, nonetheless, essential to understand the underlying biological mechanisms at play. Here, we describe the use of scanning fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (sFCS) and scanning fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy (sFCCS) to study reorganization and changes in molecular diffusion dynamics and interactions during IS formation and in other biological settings. We focus on the practical aspects of the measurements including calibration and alignment of the optical setup, present a comprehensive protocol to perform the measurements, and provide data analysis pipelines and strategies. Finally, we show an exemplary application of the technology to studying Lck diffusion during T-cell signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Falk Schneider
- Translational Imaging Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
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Dam T, Chouliara M, Jönsson P. Fluorescence-Based Measurements of Two-Dimensional Affinity in Membrane Interfaces. Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2654:25-40. [PMID: 37106173 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3135-5_2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Binding between ligands and receptors across cell contacts influences a range of biological processes including the formation of the immune synapse. The dissociation constant (Kd = 1/affinity) of the interaction corresponds to the concentration of ligands where half of the receptors in the contact have bound a ligand. In this chapter, we outline how to measure this two-dimensional affinity using model cell membranes called supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) functionalized with fluorescently labeled ligands that bind to cells containing the corresponding receptor. The affinity is calculated from the accumulation of ligands at the cell-SLB interface, while the use of different fluorescent tags, and/or unlabeled molecules, makes it possible to include various binding pairs in the contact to better mimic the conditions of binding in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tommy Dam
- Department of Chemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | | | - Peter Jönsson
- Department of Chemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
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Dam T, Chouliara M, Junghans V, Jönsson P. Supported Lipid Bilayers and the Study of Two-Dimensional Binding Kinetics. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:833123. [PMID: 35252352 PMCID: PMC8896763 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.833123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Binding between protein molecules on contacting cells is essential in initiating and regulating several key biological processes. In contrast to interactions between molecules in solution, these events are restricted to the two-dimensional (2D) plane of the meeting cell surfaces. However, converting between the more commonly available binding kinetics measured in solution and the so-called 2D binding kinetics has proven a complicated task since for the latter several factors other than the protein-protein interaction per se have an impact. A few important examples of these are: protein density, membrane fluctuations, force on the bond and the use of auxiliary binding molecules. The development of model membranes, and in particular supported lipid bilayers (SLBs), has made it possible to simplify the studied contact to analyze these effects and to measure 2D binding kinetics of individual protein-protein interactions. We will in this review give an overview of, and discuss, how different SLB systems have been used for this and compare different methods to measure binding kinetics in cell-SLB contacts. Typically, the SLB is functionalized with fluorescently labelled ligands whose interaction with the corresponding receptor on a binding cell can be detected. This interaction can either be studied 1) by an accumulation of ligands in the cell-SLB contact, whose magnitude depends on the density of the proteins and binding affinity of the interaction, or 2) by tracking single ligands in the SLB, which upon interaction with a receptor result in a change of motion of the diffusing ligand. The advantages and disadvantages of other methods measuring 2D binding kinetics will also be discussed and compared to the fluorescence-based methods. Although binding kinetic measurements in cell-SLB contacts have provided novel information on how ligands interact with receptors in vivo the number of these measurements is still limited. This is influenced by the complexity of the system as well as the required experimental time. Moreover, the outcome can vary significantly between studies, highlighting the necessity for continued development of methods to study 2D binding kinetics with higher precision and ease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tommy Dam
- Department of Chemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | | | - Victoria Junghans
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, CAMS Oxford Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Jönsson
- Department of Chemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- *Correspondence: Peter Jönsson,
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Chouliara M, Junghans V, Dam T, Santos AM, Davis SJ, Jönsson P. Single-cell measurements of two-dimensional binding affinity across cell contacts. Biophys J 2021; 120:5032-5040. [PMID: 34653390 PMCID: PMC8633712 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Revised: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The two-dimensional (2D) affinity between protein molecules across contacting cells is a key parameter regulating and initiating several cellular processes. However, measuring 2D affinity can be challenging, and experimental data are limited. In addition, the obtained 2D affinities are typically averaged over the cell population. We here present a method to measure 2D affinity on single cells binding to polyhistidine-tagged fluorescent ligands anchored to a supported lipid bilayer (SLB). By decreasing the density of ligands in the SLB using imidazole, a new steady-state accumulation in the contact is obtained, and from this change, both the 2D affinity and the number of receptors on the cell can be determined. The method was validated on an SLB containing rat CD2 binding to the rat CD48 mutant T92A expressed on Jurkat T cells. The addition of imidazole did not influence the average 2D affinity (1/Kd), and the spread in affinities within the cell population was low, Kd = 4.9 ± 0.9 molecules/μm2 (mean ± SD), despite an order of magnitude spread in ligand accumulation because of differences in receptor density. It was also found that cell contact size increased both with ligand density and with the number of receptors per cell but that the contact size stayed approximately constant when lowering the ligand density, above a density of around 10 rat CD2 molecules/μm2, after the contact first had formed, indicative of a heterogeneous process. In summary, this method not only allows for single-cell affinities to be measured, but it can also reduce measurement and analysis time and improve measurement accuracy. Because of the low spread in 2D Kd within the cell population, the analysis can further be restricted to the cells showing the strongest binding, paving the way for using this method to study weak binding events.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Victoria Junghans
- Department of Chemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; Radcliffe Department of Medicine and Medical Research Council Human Immunology Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Tommy Dam
- Department of Chemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Ana Mafalda Santos
- Radcliffe Department of Medicine and Medical Research Council Human Immunology Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Simon J Davis
- Radcliffe Department of Medicine and Medical Research Council Human Immunology Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Jönsson
- Department of Chemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
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Shi Y, Sezgin E, Chen W. Editorial: The Role of Biomembranes and Biophysics in Immune Cell Signaling. Front Immunol 2021; 12:740373. [PMID: 34630421 PMCID: PMC8498022 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.740373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Yan Shi
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Institute for Immunology, Beijing Key Lab for Immunological Research on Chronic Diseases, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.,Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Snyder Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Erdinc Sezgin
- Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
| | - Wei Chen
- Department of Cell Biology and Department of Cardiology of the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
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