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Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Characterizing Single-Molecule Conformational Changes Under Shear Flow with Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: January 25, 2020
Susceptibility of different proteins to flow-induced conformational changes monitored with Raman spectroscopy
Lorna Ashton1, Jonathan Dusting, Eboshogwe Imomoh
1Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre & Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
By directly monitoring stirred protein solutions with Raman spectroscopy, the reversible unfolding of proteins caused by fluid shear is examined for several natural proteins with varying structural properties and molecular weight. While complete denaturation is not observed, a wide range of spectral variances occur for the different proteins, indicating subtle conformational changes that appear to be protein-specific. A number of significant overall trends are apparent from the study. For globular proteins, the overall extent of spectral variance increases with protein size and the proportion of beta-structure. For two less structured proteins, fetuin and alpha-casein, the observed changes are of relatively low magnitude, despite the greater molecular structural mobility of these proteins. This implies that other protein-specific factors, such as posttranslational modifications, may also be significant. Individual band changes occurring in the spectral profiles of each individual protein are also discussed in detail.
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