Super-resolution microscopy unveils the nanoscale organization and self-limiting clustering of CD47 in human erythrocytes.

ABSTRACT: The transmembrane protein CD47, an innate immune checkpoint protein, plays a pivotal role in preventing healthy erythrocytes from immune clearance. Our study utilized stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) and single-molecule analysis to investigate the distribution of CD47 on the human erythrocyte membrane. Contrary to previous findings in mouse erythrocytes, we discovered that CD47 exists in randomly distributed monomers rather than in clusters across the human erythrocyte membrane. Using secondary antibody-induced crosslinking, we found that CD47 aggregates into stable clusters within minutes. By comparing these STORM results with those of the fully mobile protein CD59 and the cytoskeleton-bound membrane protein glycophorin C under similar conditions, as well as devising t

SUBMITTER: Yang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11992563 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature