Diffracted X-ray Tracking Method for Measuring Intramolecular Dynamics of Membrane Proteins

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 23; no. 4; p. 2343
• Main Authors: Fujimura, Shoko, Mio, Kazuhiro, Ohkubo, Tatsunari, Arai, Tatsuya, Kuramochi, Masahiro, Sekiguchi, Hiroshi, Sasaki, Yuji C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 20-02-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Accuracy; Antibodies; Aqueous solutions; Binding sites; Biomolecules; conformation dynamics; diffracted X-ray tracking technique; Diffraction; Gold - chemistry; Measurement methods; Membrane Proteins; Membranes; Microscopy; Motion; Nanocrystals; Nanotechnology; Peptides; Potassium; Proteins; Radiation; Radiation measurement; Review; single molecule analysis; Synchrotron radiation; Synchrotrons; Trajectory analysis; X-Ray Diffraction; X-Rays; membrane proteins; single molecule analysis; diffracted X-ray tracking technique; conformation dynamics
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms23042343

Membrane proteins change their conformations in response to chemical and physical stimuli and transmit extracellular signals inside cells. Several approaches have been developed for solving the structures of proteins. However, few techniques can monitor real-time protein dynamics. The diffracted X-ray tracking method (DXT) is an X-ray-based single-molecule technique that monitors the internal motion of biomolecules in an aqueous solution. DXT analyzes trajectories of Laue spots generated from the attached gold nanocrystals with a two-dimensional axis by tilting (
) and twisting (
). Furthermore, high-intensity X-rays from synchrotron radiation facilities enable measurements with microsecond-timescale and picometer-spatial-scale intramolecular information. The technique has been applied to various membrane proteins due to its superior spatiotemporal resolution. In this review, we introduce basic principles of DXT, reviewing its recent and extended applications to membrane proteins and living cells, respectively.