Issue 13, 2012

Expression of membrane-associated proteins within single emulsion cell facsimiles

Abstract

MreB is a structural membrane-associated protein which is one of the key components of the bacterial cytoskeleton. Although it plays an important role in shape maintenance of rod-like bacteria, the understanding of its mechanism of action is still not fully understood. This study shows how segmented flow and microdroplet technology can be used as a new tool for biological in vitro investigation of this protein. In this paper, we demonstrate cell-free expression in a single emulsion system to express red fluorescence protein (RFP) and MreB linked RFP (MreB–RFP). We follow the aggregation and localisation of the fusion protein MreB–RFP in this artificial cell-like environment. The expression of MreB–RFP in single emulsion droplets leads to the formation of micrometer-scale protein patches distributed at the water/oil interface.

Graphical abstract: Expression of membrane-associated proteins within single emulsion cell facsimiles

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Jan 2012
Accepted
02 Mar 2012
First published
05 Mar 2012

Analyst, 2012,137, 2939-2943

Expression of membrane-associated proteins within single emulsion cell facsimiles

M. Chanasakulniyom, C. Martino, D. Paterson, L. Horsfall, S. Rosser and J. M. Cooper, Analyst, 2012, 137, 2939 DOI: 10.1039/C2AN35047E

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