Nanoactuation of plasma membrane protein clusters

质膜蛋白在纳米尺度上表现出复杂的动态有序性，如聚集性，这种有序性通常在外界刺激后发生变化。这些过程的机制和对信号转导的后果引起了人们的极大兴趣，因为细胞外信号事件通过质膜被转移到细胞内。我们的目标是使用合理设计的纳米物体以受控的方式激活质膜蛋白质，并在纳米尺度上可视化这种相互作用的过程，为通过质膜传递细胞信号产生新的见解。合理设计的纳米物体具有可控制的界面来激活膜中的蛋白质，专门满足了对纳米级界面突破性研究的需求。纳米物体弥合了对分离蛋白质的研究和对整个细胞的研究之间的差距，前者不能解释自然环境中的蛋白质聚集，后者不允许纳米簇的受控激活。

Plasma membrane proteins show complex dynamic ordering, such as clustering, on a nanoscale level, which typically changes after external stimulation. The mechanisms of these processes and the consequences for signal transduction are of great interest as extra-cellular signaling events are translated into cells via the plasma membrane. We aim to actuate plasma membrane proteins in a controlled fashion using rationally designed nano-objects and to visualize this interfacing process on the nanometer scale, yielding new insights into cell signalling via the plasma membrane. Rationally designed nano-objects with controlled interfaces to actuate proteins in membranes specifically address the call requirement for groundbreaking research in nanoscale interfaces. The nano-objects bridge the gap between studies on isolated proteins that cannot account for protein clustering in the native environment and whole cell studies, that do not allow the controlled actuation of the nano-clusters.