Imaging the assembly and dynamics of individual protein complexes in living cells

Abstract

We have employed multicolor single molecule imaging techniques for probing the assembly of cytokine receptor complexes in the plasma membrane of living cells. Posttranslational labeling techniques were employed for labeling the receptor subunits of a cytokine receptor in living cells with quantum dots and suitable organic dyes. Receptor organization in submicroscopic structures at the plasma membrane was unveiled by triple-color super-resolution imaging. Based on single molecule tracking, the diffusion and interaction dynamics of individual signaling complexes were unraveled. © 2012 OSA.