Conformation of von Willebrand factor in shear flow revealed with stroboscopic single-molecule imaging.

ABSTRACT: von Willebrand factor (VWF) is a multimeric blood protein that acts as a mechanical probe, responding to changes in flow to initiate platelet plug formation. Previously, our laboratory tests had shown that using single-molecule imaging that shear stress can extend surface-tethered VWF, but paradoxically, we found that the required shear stress was higher than reported for free-in-flow VWF, an observation inconsistent with basic physical principles. To resolve this inconsistency critical to VWF's molecular mechanism, we measured free-VWF extension in shear flow using pulsed laser stroboscopic imaging of single molecules. Here, laser pulses of different durations are used to capture multiple images of the same molecule within each frame, enabling accurate length measurements in the presence

SUBMITTER: Bergal HT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9837445 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature