Revised Diffusion Law Permits Quantitative Nanoscale Characterization of Membrane Organization
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Formation of functional nanoscopic domains is an inherent property of plasma membranes. Stimulated emission depletion combined with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (STED-FCS) has been used to identify such domains, however, the information obtained by STED-FCS has been limited to presence of such domains while crucial parameters have not been accessible, such as size ( R d ), the fraction of occupied membrane surface ( f ), in-membrane lipid diffusion inside ( D in ) and outside ( D out ) the nanodomains as well as their self-diffusion ( D d ). Here, based on a revision of the ‘diffusion law’, we present an approach to retrieve these five parameters from STED-FCS data. We verify that approach on ganglioside nanodomains in giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs), validating the Saffman-Delbrück assumption for D d . We examined STED-FCS data in both plasma membranes of living PtK2 cells and in giant plasma membrane vesicles (GPMVs) and present a quantitative framework for molecular diffusion modes in biological membranes.
Source: Analytical Chemistry
Authors: Barbora Svobodová, David Št’astný, Hans Blom, Ilya Mikhalyov, Natalia Gretskaya, Alena Balleková, Erdinc Sezgin, Martin Hof, Radek Šachl
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
Awards: Statistical Methods for Coexistence in Future Wireless Networks, G3010212676, G3471652666, G3584431731, G3810236772, G4396925471, G569086322, G5960638817, Correlative cytometry to measure biophysical properties of cells in health and disease, G7276718241, Mapping galectin-ganglioside networks on complex model membrane systems, Concert of lipids, ions, and proteins in cell membrane dynamics and function, G941802975
OpenAlex ID: W4410868803