Visualizing the Self-Assembly of Tubulin with Luminescent Nanorods

Authors: Jürgen Riegler; Peter Nick; Udo Kielmann; Thomas Nann

Source: Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Volume 3, Number 5, October 2003 , pp. 380-385(6)

Publisher: American Scientific Publishers

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Abstract:

We succeeded in labeling tubulin with luminescent CdSe nanorods. The labeled tubulin was still able to self-assemble into microtubules, demonstrating that the protein has remained functional. The comparison with rhodamine-labeled tubulin revealed that whereas the rhodamine bleached completely within the observed time frame, the nanorods did not show any bleaching, which makes it possible to follow the key events of self-assembly at high time resolution. Preparation and derivatization of nanorods are described. Water-soluble, protein-reactive group-containing particles were covalently coupled to tubulin. The conjugate was purified by one cycle of assembly and disassembly and used to induce the formation of fluorescent microtubules. These results suggest that the use of luminescent nanorods should allow continuous confocal monitoring of dynamic biological processes.

Keywords: FLUORESCENT PROBES; SEMICONDUCTOR NANOPARTICLES; SELF-ASSEMBLY OF TUBULIN; ANALYTICAL METHODS; FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY; LUMINESCENCE; COLLOIDS

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1166/jnn.2003.219

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