Direct observation of the nanoscale dynamics of membrane lipids in a living cell

Christian Eggeling (), Christian Ringemann, Rebecca Medda, Günter Schwarzmann, Konrad Sandhoff, Svetlana Polyakova, Vladimir N. Belov, Birka Hein, Claas von Middendorff, Andreas Schönle and Stefan W. Hell ()
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Christian Eggeling: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Christian Ringemann: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Rebecca Medda: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Günter Schwarzmann: LIMES Membrane Biology and Lipid Biochemistry Unit, University of Bonn, Gerhard-Domagk-Strasse 1, 53121 Bonn, Germany
Konrad Sandhoff: LIMES Membrane Biology and Lipid Biochemistry Unit, University of Bonn, Gerhard-Domagk-Strasse 1, 53121 Bonn, Germany
Svetlana Polyakova: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Vladimir N. Belov: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Birka Hein: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Claas von Middendorff: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Andreas Schönle: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Stefan W. Hell: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

Nature, 2009, vol. 457, issue 7233, 1159-1162

Abstract: Nanoscale view of cell membrane lipids Cholesterol-mediated lipid interactions, such as nanodomain formation, are considered vital in a cell, but because of the lack of suitable detection techniques, their spatiotemporal range remained highly controversial. Here, Eggeling et al. use subdiffraction-resolution STED (stimulated emission depletion) fluorescence microscopy to detect the diffusion of single lipids or glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins on the plasma membrane of a living cell. Tuning the probing spot area up to about 70-fold below that of a confocal microscope reveals that unlike phosphoglycerolipids, sphingolipids and GPI-anchored proteins are trapped for about 10 ms in cholesterol-mediated complexes within less than 20 nm space. Optical probing in nanosized areas is a powerful new approach to study biomolecular function.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07596

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