Tracking individual kinesin motors in living cells using single quantum-dot imaging.
We report a simple method using semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) to track the motion of intracellular proteins with a high sensitivity. We characterized the in vivo motion of individual QD-tagged kinesin motors in living HeLa cells. Single-molecule measurements provided important parameters of the motor, such as its velocity and processivity, as well as an estimate of the force necessary to carry a QD. Our measurements demonstrate the importance of single-molecule experiments in the investigation of intracellular transport as well as the potential of single quantum-dot imaging for the study of important processes such as cellular trafficking, cell polarization, and division.
Courty
Sébastien
S
Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, CNRS UMR 8552, Ecole normale supérieure, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, Paris, France.
Luccardini
Camilla
C
Bellaiche
Yohanns
Y
Cappello
Giovanni
G
Dahan
Maxime
M
D001692:Biological Transport; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D016547:Kinesins / Q000502:physiology*; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D045663:Quantum Dots
D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins; D016547:Kinesins