Enhanced Molecular Tension Sensor Based on Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET).

ABSTRACT: Molecular tension sensors measure piconewton forces experienced by individual proteins in the context of the cellular microenvironment. Current genetically encoded tension sensors use FRET to report on extension of a deformable peptide encoded in a cellular protein of interest. Here, we present the development and characterization of a new type of molecular tension sensor based on bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET), which exhibits more desirable spectral properties and an enhanced dynamic range compared to other molecular tension sensors. Moreover, it avoids many disadvantages of FRET measurements in cells, including autofluorescence, photobleaching, and corrections of direct acceptor excitation. We benchmark the sensor by inserting it into the canonical mechanosensing focal

SUBMITTER: Aird EJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7550199 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature