Nanowerk January 10, 2022
Understanding the relationship between protein structural dynamics and function is crucial for both basic research and biotechnology. However, methods for studying the fast dynamics of structural changes are limited. Researchers in Canada have developed fluorescent nanoantennas as a spectroscopic technique to sense and report protein conformational changes through noncovalent dye-protein interactions. Using experiments and molecular simulations, they detected and characterized five distinct conformational states of intestinal alkaline phosphatase, including the transient enzyme–substrate complex. They explored the universality of the nanoantenna strategy with another model protein, Protein G and its interaction with antibodies, and demonstrated a rapid screening strategy to identify efficient nanoantennas. According to the researchers the nanoantennas can be used with diverse dyes to monitor small and large conformational changes, and they could be used to characterize diverse protein movements or in high-throughput screening applications…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Fluorescent nanoantennas enable complete characterization of the enzyme’s kinetic mechanism. Credit: Nature Methods volume 19, pages71–80 (2022)Â