2 research outputs found
Accuracy and Precision in Camera-Based Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy Measurements
Imaging fluorescence correlation
spectroscopy (FCS) performed using
array detectors has been successfully used to quantify the number,
mobility, and organization of biomolecules in cells and organisms.
However, there have not been any systematic studies on the errors
in these estimates that are introduced due to instrumental and experimental
factors. State-of-the-art array detectors are still restricted in
the number of frames that can be recorded per unit time, sensitivity
and noise characteristics, and the total number of frames that can
be realistically recorded. These limitations place constraints on
the time resolution, the signal-to-noise ratio, and the total measurement
time, respectively. This work addresses these problems by using a
combination of simulations and experiments on lipid bilayers to provide
characteristic performance parameters and guidelines that govern accuracy
and precision of diffusion coefficient and concentration measurements
in camera-based FCS. We then proceed to demonstrate the effects of
these parameters on the capability of camera-based FCS to determine
membrane heterogeneity via the FCS diffusion laws, showing that there
is a lower length scale limit beyond which membrane organization cannot
be detected and which can be overcome by choosing suitable experimental
parameters. On the basis of these results, we provide guidelines for
an efficient experimental design for camera-based FCS to extract information
on mobility, concentration, and heterogeneity
A Funneled Conformational Landscape Governs Flavivirus Fusion Peptide Interaction with Lipid Membranes
During host cell
infection by flaviviruses such as dengue and Zika,
acidic pH within the endosome triggers a conformational change in
the envelope protein on the outer surface of the virion. This results
in exposure of the ∼15 residue fusion peptide (FP) region,
freeing it to induce fusion between the viral and endosomal membranes.
A better understanding of the conformational dynamics of the FP in
the presence of membranes, and the basis for its selectivity for anionic
lipid species present within the endosome, would facilitate its therapeutic
targeting with antiviral drugs and antibodies. In this work, multiscale
modeling, simulations, and free energy calculations (including a total
of ∼75 μs of atomic-resolution sampling), combined with
imaging total internal reflection fluorescence correlation spectroscopy
experiments, were employed to investigate the mechanisms of interaction
of FP variants with lipid bilayers. Wild-type FPs (in the presence
or absence of a fluorescein isothiocyanate tag) were shown to possess
a funneled conformational landscape governing their exit from solvent
and penetration into the lipid phase and to exhibit an electrostatically
favored >2-fold affinity for membranes containing anionic species
over purely zwitterionic ones. Conversely, the landscape was abolished
in a nonfunctional point mutant, leading to a 2-fold drop in host
membrane affinity. Collectively, our data reveal how the highly conserved
flavivirus FP has evolved to funnel its conformational space toward
a maximally fusogenic state anchored within the endosomal membrane.
Therapeutically targeting the accessible ensemble of FP conformations
may represent a new, rational strategy for blocking viral infection