Positively Charged Tags Impede Protein Mobility in Cells as Quantified by 19F NMR

J Phys Chem B. 2019 May 30;123(21):4527-4533. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.9b02162. Epub 2019 May 15.

Abstract

Proteins are often tagged for visualization or delivery in the "sea" of other macromolecules in cells but how tags affect protein mobility remains poorly understood. Here, we employ in-cell 19F NMR to quantify the mobility of proteins with charged tags in Escherichia coli cells and Xenopus laevis oocytes. We find that the transient charge-charge interactions between the tag and cellular components affect protein mobility. More specifically, positively charged tags impede protein mobility.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Diffusion*
  • Escherichia coli
  • Fluorine / chemistry
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / chemistry
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / metabolism*
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular
  • Streptococcus / chemistry
  • Ubiquitins / chemistry
  • Ubiquitins / metabolism*
  • Xenopus laevis

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • IgG Fc-binding protein, Streptococcus
  • Ubiquitins
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • Fluorine