title: Single-molecule methods to study membrane receptor oligomerization.
abstract: Membrane receptors control fundamental cellular processes. Binding of a specific ligand to a receptor initiates communication through the membrane and activation of signaling cascades. This activation process often leads to a spatial rearrangement of receptors in the membrane at the molecular level. Single-molecule techniques contributed significantly to the understanding of receptor organization and rearrangement in membranes. Here, we review four prominent single-molecule techniques that have been applied to membrane receptors, namely, stepwise photobleaching, Förster resonance energy transfer, sub-diffraction localization microscopy and co-tracking. We discuss the requirements, benefits and limitations of each technique, discuss target labeling, present a selection of applications and results and compare the different methodologies.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7, 60438 Frankfurt (Germany).
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fricke
authors.forename: Marina S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Dietz
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heilemann
mesh_terms: D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D006801:Humans; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D038761:Photobleaching; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface
keywords: localization microscopy; membrane receptors; single-molecule FRET; single-molecule photobleaching; super-resolution microscopy