Single-molecule labeling for studying trafficking of renal transporters

Abstract

The ability to detect and track single molecules presents the advantage of visualizing the complex behavior of individual proteins with a time and space resolution that would otherwise be lost with traditional labeling and biochemical techniques. This is achieved by a combination of single molecule labeling and high-resolution microscopy. In the last 10 years, single molecule labeling of membrane proteins has contributed enormously to our understanding of their function, behavior and trafficking in polarized epithelium. Surprisingly, application of these techniques to study transporters in renal epithelium has not been widespread. Characterizing the single molecule behavior of renal transporters and its regulation will provide new information on the mechanisms of ion and water transport and help identify novel pathways, potentially subject to therapeutic intervention. This mini-review focuses on the current technology available for single molecule labeling of transmembrane proteins, their advantages, and limitations. We also discuss the application of these techniques to the study of renal transporters in light of recent research.

Recent advances in renal epithelial transport

“…This editorial focus will end with a mention of the review by Jaykumar et al (4), which describes current technologies available for single-molecule labeling of transmembrane proteins. These techniques include fluorescent proteins, chemical tags, acceptor sequence tags, epitope-based tags, fluorogenic tags, fluorescent unnatural amino acid, and tag-free labeling method.…”