Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Protocol for In Vivo Two-Photon FCS to Measure Nanocarrier Number and Flow Velocity in Mouse Cerebral Microvasculature.

Bio-protocol·2026
Same author

The Vertebrate Genomes Project Phase I: A global reference genome resource.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Targeted Mutations Activate Allosteric Modulation of α5-Containing Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors.

ACS chemical neuroscience·2026
Same author

Single-library chromosome-scale diploid assemblies of vole genomes resolve a species-specific duplication implicated in pair bonding.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Real-Time In Vivo Detection of Nanocarrier Number and Velocity in the Cerebrovasculature Using Hot Band Absorption.

Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026
Same author

M1 Macrophage-Engineered Vesicles Have Anti-Cancer Activity in Ovarian Cancer.

Cancer nanotechnology·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 21, 2026

Fabrication of Zero Mode Waveguides for High Concentration Single Molecule Microscopy
08:01

Fabrication of Zero Mode Waveguides for High Concentration Single Molecule Microscopy

Published on: May 12, 2020

Live-cell imaging of single receptor composition using zero-mode waveguide nanostructures.

Christopher I Richards1, Khai Luong, Rahul Srinivasan

  • 1Division of Biology 156-29, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91125, United States.

Nano Letters
|June 7, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Researchers used nanostructures to study individual cell receptors, measuring subunit numbers in nicotinic acetylcholine and ATP receptors. They found that nicotine and cytisine differently affect receptor composition.

More Related Videos

A Label-free Technique for the Spatio-temporal Imaging of Single Cell Secretions
09:09

A Label-free Technique for the Spatio-temporal Imaging of Single Cell Secretions

Published on: November 23, 2015

High-Throughput Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence and Direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy Using a Photonic Chip
14:09

High-Throughput Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence and Direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy Using a Photonic Chip

Published on: November 16, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 21, 2026

Fabrication of Zero Mode Waveguides for High Concentration Single Molecule Microscopy
08:01

Fabrication of Zero Mode Waveguides for High Concentration Single Molecule Microscopy

Published on: May 12, 2020

A Label-free Technique for the Spatio-temporal Imaging of Single Cell Secretions
09:09

A Label-free Technique for the Spatio-temporal Imaging of Single Cell Secretions

Published on: November 23, 2015

High-Throughput Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence and Direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy Using a Photonic Chip
14:09

High-Throughput Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence and Direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy Using a Photonic Chip

Published on: November 16, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Cell Biology
  • Nanotechnology

Background:

  • Studying individual receptors on living cells is crucial for understanding cellular signaling.
  • Subwavelength nanostructures offer unique optical and spatial properties for nanoscale investigations.
  • Previous methods lacked the resolution to precisely quantify receptor subunit stoichiometry in situ.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and apply a novel method for examining individual receptors on the plasma membrane of living cells.
  • To determine the subunit stoichiometry of specific receptor types, including nicotinic acetylcholine and P2X2 ATP receptors.
  • To investigate the differential effects of pharmacological agents on receptor stoichiometry.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing subwavelength nanostructures to spatially isolate receptors within zero-mode waveguides.
  • Employing single-step photobleaching of green fluorescent protein (GFP) integrated into receptor subunits.
  • Combining optical and spatial features of nanostructures with fluorescence microscopy for quantitative analysis.

Main Results:

  • Successfully measured the subunit stoichiometry of α4β4 and α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.
  • Quantified the subunit stoichiometry of P2X2 ATP receptors.
  • Demonstrated that nicotine and cytisine exhibit differential effects on the stoichiometry of α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.

Conclusions:

  • The developed nanostructure-based method enables precise measurement of individual receptor stoichiometry in living cells.
  • This technique provides new insights into the composition and regulation of key neurotransmitter and ion channel receptors.
  • Pharmacological agents can modulate the subunit assembly of receptors, impacting their function.