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Effect of membrane microheterogeneity and domain size on fluorescence resonance energy transfer
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Effect of membrane microheterogeneity and domain size on fluorescence resonance energy transfer

Kevin B Towles, Angela C Brown, Steven P Wrenn and Nily Dan
Biophysical journal, v 93(2), pp 655-667
15 Jul 2007
PMID: 17449659
url
https://doi.org/10.1529/biophysj.106.090274View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Biophysical Phenomena Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Membrane Microdomains - chemistry Membranes, Artificial Models, Molecular Membranes - chemistry Biophysics Lipid Bilayers - chemistry Monte Carlo Method Nanotechnology
Studies of multicomponent membranes suggest lateral inhomogeneity in the form of membrane domains, but the size of small (nanoscale) domains in situ cannot be determined with current techniques. In this article, we present a model that enables extraction of membrane domain size from time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) data. We expand upon a classic approach to the infinite phase separation limit and formulate a model that accounts for the presence of disklike domains of finite dimensions within a two-dimensional infinite planar bilayer. The model was tested against off-lattice Monte Carlo calculations of a model membrane in the liquid-disordered (l(d)) and liquid-ordered (l(o)) coexistence regime. Simulated domain size was varied from 5 to 50 nm, and two fluorophores, preferentially partitioning into opposite phases, were randomly mixed to obtain the simulated time-resolved FRET data. The Monte Carlo data show clear differences in the efficiency of energy transfer as a function of domain size. The model fit of the data yielded good agreement for the domain size, especially in cases where the domain diameter is <20 nm. Thus, data analysis using the proposed model enables measurement of nanoscale membrane domains using time-resolved FRET.

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