A flow cytometry assay to quantify intercellular exchange of membrane components.

ABSTRACT: Membrane-compound exchange is vital for cell-to-cell communication, yet quantification of this process is difficult. Here we present a method using flow cytometry in combination with bioorthogonal and fluorescent labelling techniques to quantify the amount of exchange of cholesterol and sialylated compounds between cells. We demonstrate that direct cell-cell contact is the likely mechanism of sterol-exchange and show that by manipulating the contact time between cells using complementary coiled-coil peptides results in an enhanced exchange rate of membrane components between cells.

SUBMITTER: Poulcharidis D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5618768 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature