Abstract
A fluorescent biosensor is the first to quantify the ionic strength inside living cells (ACS Chem. Biol. 2017, DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.7b00348). The sensor could enable cell biologists to follow changes in ionic strength over time or at different locations in a cell, changes that are key for controlling protein aggregation. Ionic strength is the measure of the concentration of unbound ions floating in a cell. It affects many biological processes, including protein folding and assembly and the catalytic activity of enzymes and ribozymes. Measuring ionic strength could help researchers better understand protein misfolding and aggregation, two key processes in the formation of amyloid fibers, which are linked to neurodegenerative disease and type 2 diabetes. To build a cellular ionic strength sensor, Boqun Liu,Bert Poolman, and Arnold J. Boersma at the University of Groningen made use of Försterresonance energy transfer, which relies on the transfer of energy between two different fluorescent molecules.
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