Measurements of molecular size and shape on a chip

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Xin Zhu - , University of Oxford (Author)
  • Timothy J.D. Bennett - , University of Oxford (Author)
  • Konstantin C. Zouboulis - , University of Oxford (Author)
  • Dimitrios Soulias - , University of Oxford (Author)
  • Michal Grzybek - , Center of Membrane Biochemistry and Lipid Research (Author)
  • Justin L.P. Benesch - , University of Oxford (Author)
  • Afaf H. El-Sagheer - , University of Southampton (Author)
  • Ünal Coskun - , Center of Membrane Biochemistry and Lipid Research, German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden (PLID) of the Helmholtz Center Munich (Author)
  • Madhavi Krishnan - , University of Oxford (Author)

Abstract

Size and shape are critical discriminators between molecular species and states. We describe a microchip-based high-throughput imaging approach offering rapid and precise determination of molecular properties under native solution conditions. Our method detects differences in molecular weight across at least three orders of magnitude and down to two carbon atoms in small molecules. We quantify the strength of molecular interactions across more than six orders of magnitude in affinity constant and track reactions in real time. Highly parallel measurements on individual molecules serve to characterize sample-state heterogeneity at the highest resolution, offering predictive input to model three-dimensional structure. We further leverage the method's structural sensitivity for diagnostics, exploiting ligand-induced conformational changes in the insulin receptor to sense insulin concentration in serum at the subnanoliter and subzeptomole scale.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article numbereadt5827
JournalScience (New York, N.Y.)
Volume388
Issue number6747
Publication statusPublished - 8 May 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 105008906198
ORCID /0000-0003-4375-3144/work/187998468
ORCID /0000-0003-2083-0506/work/187999963

Keywords

Keywords

  • Humans, Insulin/blood, Lab-On-A-Chip Devices, Ligands, Molecular Weight, Protein Conformation, Receptor, Insulin/chemistry