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Single‐Molecule Fluorescence Detection of a Synthetic Heparan Sulfate Disaccharide
Author(s) -
Dalton Charlotte E.,
Quinn Steven D.,
Rafferty Aidan,
Morten Michael J.,
Gardiner John M.,
Magennis Steven W.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201600750
Subject(s) - disaccharide , chemistry , molecule , heparan sulfate , fluorescence , vesicle , carbohydrate , glycosaminoglycan , biophysics , stereochemistry , biochemistry , organic chemistry , biology , membrane , physics , quantum mechanics
The first single‐molecule fluorescence detection of a structurally‐defined synthetic carbohydrate is reported: a heparan sulfate (HS) disaccharide fragment labeled with Alexa488. Single molecules have been measured whilst freely diffusing in solution and controlled encapsulation in surface‐tethered lipid vesicles has allowed extended observations of carbohydrate molecules down to the single‐molecule level. The diverse and dynamic nature of HS–protein interactions means that new tools to investigate pure HS fragments at the molecular level would significantly enhance our understanding of HS. This work is a proof‐of‐principle demonstration of the feasibility of single‐molecule studies of synthetic carbohydrates which offers a new approach to the study of pure glycosaminoglycan (GAG) fragments.