title: Visualization of HRas Domains in the Plasma Membrane of Fibroblasts.
abstract: The plasma membrane is a highly complex, organized structure where the lateral organization of signaling proteins is tightly regulated. In the case of Ras proteins, it has been suggested that the differential activity of the various isoforms is due to protein localization in separate membrane compartments. To date, direct visualization of such compartmentalization has been achieved only by electron microscopy on membrane sheets. Here, we combine photoactivated light microscopy with quantitative statistical analysis to visualize protein distribution in intact cells. In particular, we focus on the localization of HRas and its minimal anchoring domain, CAAX. We demonstrate the existence of a complex partitioning behavior, where small domains coexist with larger ones. The protein content in these domains varied from two molecules to tens of molecules. We found that 40% of CAAX and 60% of HRas were localized in domains. Subsequently, we were able to manipulate protein distributions by inducing coalescence of supposedly cholesterol-enriched domains. Clustering resulted in an increase of the localized fraction by 15%.
authors.affiliation: Physics of Life Processes, Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pezzarossa
authors.affiliation: Physics of Life Processes, Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zosel
authors.affiliation: Physics of Life Processes, Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, The Netherlands. Electronic address: schmidt@physics.leidenuniv.nl.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras) / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; C501009:HRAS protein, human; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras)