Berlin 2024 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 21: Poster IIIb

BP 21.15: Poster

Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 11:00–14:30, Poster C

Novel DNA-based nano force sensor to measure the clustering force of membrane-proteins — •Neda Rahmani and Weria Pezeshkian — Niels Bohr International Academy, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Membrane-mediated clustering forces contribute to biological processes on cellular membranes, such as intracellular trafficking and signaling; they have their origin in a protein's ability to physically perturb the membrane's relaxed state. Clustering of extracellular ligands and proteins on the plasma membrane is required to perform specific cellular functions, such as signaling and endocytosis. Attractive forces that originate in perturbations of the membrane*s physical properties contribute to this clustering. The bacterial Shiga toxin (STxB) interacts with its cellular receptor, the glycosphingolipid globotriaosylceramide (Gb3 or CD77), as a first step to entering target cells. Previous studies have shown that toxin molecules cluster on the plasma membrane, despite the apparent lack of direct interactions between them. A membrane fluctuation-induced force generates an effective attractive force at separations around 1 nm, remains strong at distances up to the size of toxin molecules (several nanometers), and persists even beyond. This force is predicted to operate between manufactured nanoparticles providing they are sufficiently rigid and tightly bound to the membrane. In this project, we are going to design a nano force sensor to detect and calculate the clustering force between STxB bounded to a bilayer through GB3, and the suggested device is a DNA-based tweezer.

Keywords: Membrane-mediated forces; The bacterial Shiga toxin (STxB); Gb3; Force sensor