| RESEARCH |
Polymer lights up membranes Chemists at Ben Gurion University, Beersheva, Israel, have developed a way to visualize activity on cell membranes. The technique can be used to better understand membrane processes such as endocytosis and virus infection of cells. In drug discovery, it can help select compounds that exert a strong effect on cell membranes, a requirement for cell penetration. To observe membrane disruption, Raz Jelinek and coworkers attach patches of polydiacetylene to the cell surface [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 44, 1092 (2005)]. When the cell membrane is disturbed, the polymer undergoes a conformational change, which in turn brings about a color change. The polymer turns from blue to red and starts to fluoresce. Jelinek and coworkers demonstrate the principle by exposing polydiacetylene-labeled monocytic U937 leukemic cells to various drugs and to membrane perturbation processes and observing the effects by microscopy. They find that different drugs perturb the membranes of these cells differently--uniformly in some cases, as revealed by a uniform red fluorescence around treated cells, or localized, as shown by a single red fluorescent spot in other cases. |
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