News Archive

3D protein networks assembled by two-photon activation

May 2014. Spatial and temporal control over chemical and biological processes plays a key role in life sciences and material sciences. A team of Frankfurt scientists has synthesized a two-photon-activatable glutathione (GSH) to trigger the interaction with glutathione S-transferase (GST) by light at superior spatiotemporal resolution. As reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the compound shows fast and well-confined photoconversion into the bioactive GSH, which is free to interact with GST-tagged proteins. Through phototriggering the GSH/GST interaction, the scientists are able to change its affinity over several orders of magnitude into the nanomolar range. Multiplexed three-dimensional (3D) protein networks are simultaneously generated in situ through two-photon fs-pulsed laser-scanning excitation. The two-photon activation facilitates the three-dimensional assembly of protein structures in real time at hitherto unseen resolution in time and space, thus opening up new applications far beyond the example presented here: video.
 

Contact:
Robert Tampé
Goethe-University Frankfurt
Campus Riedberg
Tel.: +49 (0)69 798-29475
tampe@em.uni-frankfurt.de

 

Full publication:
Gatterdam V, Ramadass R, Stoess T, Fichte MAH, Wachtveitl J, Heckel A, Tampé R (2014) Three-dimensional protein networks assembled by two-photon activation. Angew Chem Int Ed 53:5680-4. doi: 10.1002/anie.201309930, link to paper, link to journal cover, link to video