SurFlex microscopy: Measuring flexibility of surface-tethered biomolecules.

ABSTRACT: The flexibility of tethered molecules, such as those bound to biological membranes, is an important property that can influence molecular height, mobility, and accessibility. However, quantifying the flexibility of surface-tethered biomolecules in aqueous environments has been difficult due to a lack of experimental tools. Here, we introduce SurFlex microscopy, a method based on fluorescence anisotropy that exploits the relationship between the conformational dynamics of a tethered molecule and the rotational diffusion of an attached fluorophore to extract information about molecular flexibility. By analyzing the polarization state of photons emitted after polarized excitation, we quantify apparent molecular flexibilities that include effects of tethering, self-interactions, and buffer con

SUBMITTER: Chorlay A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12685047 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature