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Seeing through cells : Rapid measurement of intracellular target proteins

Larsson, Per Olof LU and Leiva Eriksson, Nelida LU orcid (2022) In Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 10.
Abstract

We have studied a method for making microbial cells transparent by immersing them in a solution with a high refractive index (RI). When the RI of the solution was matching that of the cells, light scattering was greatly diminished (by a factor of up to about 100) and the cell suspension became transparent, facilitating the spectrophotometric determination of intracellular compounds such as hemoglobin. We investigated the properties of several compounds such as sucrose, glycerol, bovine serum albumin, FicollTM, and iodixanol (OptiprepTM), each with advantages and disadvantages. Particularly good overall properties were found for iodixanol at a concentration of around 36% (w/v) and bovine serum albumin at a... (More)

We have studied a method for making microbial cells transparent by immersing them in a solution with a high refractive index (RI). When the RI of the solution was matching that of the cells, light scattering was greatly diminished (by a factor of up to about 100) and the cell suspension became transparent, facilitating the spectrophotometric determination of intracellular compounds such as hemoglobin. We investigated the properties of several compounds such as sucrose, glycerol, bovine serum albumin, FicollTM, and iodixanol (OptiprepTM), each with advantages and disadvantages. Particularly good overall properties were found for iodixanol at a concentration of around 36% (w/v) and bovine serum albumin at a concentration of about 30% (w/v). By using this RI-matching principle the production of intracellular compounds can easily be followed in near real-time during fermentation processes. For example, some conditions for producing plant hemoglobin in Escherichia coli were conveniently determined without the need of any cell disintegration or product purification.

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organization
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
BSA, FicollTM, hemoglobin, intracellular proteins, iodixanol, refractive index, transparent cell suspensions
in
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
volume
10
article number
996224
publisher
Frontiers Media S. A.
external identifiers
  • pmid:36263354
  • scopus:85140030366
ISSN
2296-4185
DOI
10.3389/fbioe.2022.996224
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0c419740-e95f-4f18-b60b-3de0e3ed2049
date added to LUP
2022-12-13 15:25:35
date last changed
2024-06-13 21:38:25
@article{0c419740-e95f-4f18-b60b-3de0e3ed2049,
  abstract     = {{<p>We have studied a method for making microbial cells transparent by immersing them in a solution with a high refractive index (RI). When the RI of the solution was matching that of the cells, light scattering was greatly diminished (by a factor of up to about 100) and the cell suspension became transparent, facilitating the spectrophotometric determination of intracellular compounds such as hemoglobin. We investigated the properties of several compounds such as sucrose, glycerol, bovine serum albumin, Ficoll<sup>TM,</sup> and iodixanol (Optiprep<sup>TM</sup>), each with advantages and disadvantages. Particularly good overall properties were found for iodixanol at a concentration of around 36% (w/v) and bovine serum albumin at a concentration of about 30% (w/v). By using this RI-matching principle the production of intracellular compounds can easily be followed in near real-time during fermentation processes. For example, some conditions for producing plant hemoglobin in Escherichia coli were conveniently determined without the need of any cell disintegration or product purification.</p>}},
  author       = {{Larsson, Per Olof and Leiva Eriksson, Nelida}},
  issn         = {{2296-4185}},
  keywords     = {{BSA; FicollTM; hemoglobin; intracellular proteins; iodixanol; refractive index; transparent cell suspensions}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Frontiers Media S. A.}},
  series       = {{Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology}},
  title        = {{Seeing through cells : Rapid measurement of intracellular target proteins}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2022.996224}},
  doi          = {{10.3389/fbioe.2022.996224}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}