ABSTRACT
We reported a new effective approach to carry out two-photon excitation stimulated emission depletion (2PE-STED) microscopy using a single Ti:sapphire laser system. With an acoustic-optic Bragg cell, the modulated-CW 2PE STED microscope had the benefits of both CW and pulse approaches: lower input power, simple optical scheme and no complicated synchronization. Additionally, it also took advantages of fluorescence yield increasing. The sub-diffraction-limit resolution was demonstrated using ATTO 425-tagged clathrin-coated vesicles.
Subject(s)
Aluminum Oxide/chemistry , Lasers , Lighting , Microscopy, Fluorescence/methods , Photons , Titanium/chemistry , Animals , CHO Cells , Clathrin/metabolism , Cricetinae , Cricetulus , Fluorescence , Photobleaching , Thermodynamics , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy was used to study the structure of water at cross-linked PEO film interfaces in the presence of human serum albumin (HSA) protein. Although PEO is charge neutral, the PEO film/water interface exhibited an SFG signal of water similar to that of a highly charged water/silica interface, signifying the presence of ordered water. Ordered water molecules were observed not only at the water/PEO interface, but also within the PEO film. It indicates that the PEO and water form an ordered hydrogen-bonded network extending from the bulk PEO film into liquid water, which can provide an energy barrier for protein adsorption. Upon exposure to the protein solution, the SFG spectra of water at the water/PEO interface remained nearly unperturbed. For comparison, the SFG spectra of water/silica and water/polystyrene interfaces were also studied with and without HSA in the solution. The SFG spectra of the interfacial water were correlated with the amount of protein adsorbed on the surfaces using fluorescence microscopy, which showed that the amount of protein adsorbed on the PEO film was about 10 times less than that on a polystyrene film and 3 times less than that on silica.
Subject(s)
Cross-Linking Reagents/chemistry , Polyethylene Glycols/chemistry , Serum Albumin/chemistry , Water/chemistry , Adsorption , Humans , Polystyrenes/chemistry , Silicon Dioxide/chemistry , Solutions , Spectrum Analysis , Surface Properties , VibrationABSTRACT
We report applications of two-photon excitation fluorescence (2PEF) microscopy with subdiffraction-limit resolution for green-fluorescent-protein-tagged cell imaging. The microscope integrates 2PEF microscopy and stimulated emission depletion microscopy in one microscope that has the benefits of both techniques: intrinsic three-dimensional resolution, confined photobleaching, and subdiffraction-limit resolution. The subdiffraction-limit resolution was demonstrated by resolving green-fluorescent-protein-tagged caveolar vesicles located within a distance shorter than the diffraction limit of a regular 2PEF microscope, which is approximately 250 nm even with the best optics. The full width at half-maximum of the effective point-spread function for the 2PEF microscope was estimated to be approximately 54 nm.
Subject(s)
Green Fluorescent Proteins/metabolism , Microscopy, Fluorescence/methods , Molecular Imaging/methods , Photons , Animals , CHO Cells , Cricetinae , CricetulusABSTRACT
The surface of a pollen grain consists of an outermost coat and an underlying wall. In maize (Zea mays L.), the pollen coat contains two major proteins derived from the adjacent tapetum cells in the anthers. One of the proteins is a 35-kDa endoxylanase (Wu, S. S. H., Suen, D. F., Chang, H. C., and Huang, A. H. C. (2002) J. Biol. Chem. 277, 49055-49064). The other protein of 70 kDa was purified to homogeneity and shown to be a beta-glucanase. Its gene sequence and the developmental pattern of its mRNA differ from those of the known beta-glucanases that hydrolyze the callose wall of the microspore tetrad. Mature pollen placed in a liquid medium released about nine major proteins. These proteins were partially sequenced and identified via GenBank trade mark data bases, and some had not been previously reported to be in pollen. They appear to have wall-loosening, structural, and enzymatic functions. A novel pollen wall-bound protein of 17 kDa has a unique pattern of cysteine distribution in its sequence (six tandem repeats of CX3CX10-15) that could chelate cations and form signal-receiving finger motifs. These pollen-released proteins were synthesized in the pollen interior, and their mRNA increased during pollen maturation and germination. They were localized mainly in the pollen tube wall. The pollen shell was isolated and found to contain no detectable proteins. We suggest that the pollen-coat beta-glucanase and xylanase hydrolyze the stigma wall for pollen tube entry and that the pollen secrete proteins to loosen or become new wall constituents of the tube and to break the wall of the transmitting track for tube advance.
Subject(s)
Cell Wall/chemistry , Pollen/chemistry , Allergens/chemistry , Amino Acid Motifs , Amino Acid Sequence , Cations , Cell Wall/metabolism , DNA, Complementary/metabolism , Databases as Topic , Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel , Ether/pharmacology , Flowers/metabolism , Glycoside Hydrolases/metabolism , Microscopy, Fluorescence , Molecular Sequence Data , Phylogeny , Plant Proteins/chemistry , Protein Structure, Tertiary , RNA/metabolism , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Sequence Homology, Amino Acid , Zea maysABSTRACT
Pollen coat contains ingredients that interact with the stigma surface during sexual reproduction. In maize (Zea mays L.) pollen coat, the predominant protein is a 35-kDa endoxylanase, whose mRNA is located in the tapetum cells enclosing the maturing pollen in the anthers. This 2.0-kb mRNA was found to have an open reading frame of 1,635 nucleotides encoding a 60-kDa pre-xylanase. In developing anthers, the pre-xylanase protein appeared prior to the 35-kDa xylanase protein and enzyme activity and then peaked and declined, whereas the 35-kDa xylanase protein and activity continued to increase until anther maturation. An acid protease in the anther extract converted the inactive pre-xylanase to the active 35-kDa xylanase in vitro. The protease activity was inhibited by inhibitors of serine proteases but unaffected by inhibitors of cysteine, aspartic, or metallic proteases. Sequence analysis revealed that the 60-kDa pre-xylanase was converted to the 35-kDa xylanase with the removal of 198 and 48 residues from the N and C termini, respectively. During in vitro and in vivo conversions, no intermediates of 60-35 kDa were observed, and the 35-kDa xylanase was highly stable. The pre-xylanase was localized in the tapetum-containing anther wall, whereas the 35-kDa xylanase was found in the pollen coat. The significance of having a large non-active pre-xylanase and the mode of transfer of the xylanase to the pollen coat are discussed. A gene encoding the barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) tapetum xylanase was cloned; this gene and the gene encoding the seed aleurone-layer xylanase had strict tissue-specific expressions.
