Total internal reflectance fluorescence protein binding

E. Kalb, J. Engel, and L. K. Tamm, Binding proteins to specific target sites in membranes measured by total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, Biochemistry 29, 1607-1613 (1990). 

The three-dimensional network of actin stress fiber, which is an association of actin filaments, provides mechanical support for the cell, determines the cell shape, and enables cell movement. Thus the shape change in the cell due to the laser tsunami can be examined by observing the laser-induced dynamics of fibers. The actin stress fiber was visualized by binding it with enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP), and monitored by total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) imaging [34]. 

As a consequence, researchers from different disciplines of the life sciences ask for efficient and sensitive techniques to characterize protein binding to and release from natural and artificial membranes. Native biological membranes are often substituted by artificial lipid bilayers bearing only a limifed number of components and rendering the experiment more simple, which permits the extraction of real quantitative information from binding experiments. Adsorption and desorption are characterized by rate constants that reflect the interaction potential between the protein and the membrane interface. Rate constants of adsorption and desorption can be quantified by means of sensitive optical techniques such as surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy (SPR), ellipsometry (ELL), reflection interference spectroscopy (RIfS), and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRE), as well as acoustic/mechanical devices such as the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM)... 

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