본문 바로가기

포항공과대학교 생명과학과

ENG

정보

리서치 하이라이트

Force Mapping Reveals the Spatial Distribution of Individual Proteins in a Neuron

2022-10-07 2087
Author
Joung-Hun Kim
Journal
Nano Lett . 2022 May 25;22(10):3865-3871
Date of Publication
2022-05
Original link

Abstract

Conventional methods for studying the spatial distribution and expression level of proteins within neurons have primarily relied on immunolabeling and/or signal amplification. Here, we present an atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based nanoscale force mapping method, where Anti-LIMK1-tethered AFM probes were used to visualize individual LIMK1 proteins in cultured neurons directly through force measurements. We observed that the number density of LIMK1 decreased in neuronal somas after the cells were depolarized. We also elucidated the spatial distribution of LIMK1 in single spine areas and found that the protein predominantly locates at heads of spines rather than dendritic shafts. The study demonstrates that our method enables unveiling of the abundance and spatial distribution of a protein of interest in neurons without signal amplification or labeling. We expected that this approach should facilitate the studies of protein expression phenomena in depth in a wide range of biological systems.

 


Image

research_image