Imaging Membrane Order and Dynamic Interactions in Living Cells with a DNA Zipper Probe

The cell membrane is a dynamic and heterogeneous structure composed of distinct sub-compartments. Within these compartments, preferential interactions occur among various lipids and proteins. Currently, it is still challenging to image these short-lived membrane complexes, especially in living cells. In this work, we present a DNA-based probe, termed DNA Zipper, which allows the membrane order and pattern of transient interactions to be imaged in living cells using standard fluorescence microscopes. By fine-tuning the length and binding affinity of DNA duplex, these probes can precisely extend the duration of membrane lipid interactions via dynamic DNA hybridization. The correlation between membrane order and the activation of T-cell receptor signaling has also been studied. These programmable DNA probes function after a brief cell incubation, which can be easily adapted to study lipid interactions and membrane order during different membrane signaling events.

Automated summary

A new DNA-based probe called DNA Zipper was introduced in this study, which enables imaging of membrane order and transient interactions in living cells. These programmable DNA probes, by fine-tuning DNA hybridization, can precisely extend the duration of membrane lipid interactions and have been applied to study the correlation between membrane order and T-cell receptor signaling activation.