Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 17, 2026

Tension Gauge Tether Probes for Quantifying Growth Factor Mediated Integrin Mechanics and Adhesion
Published on: February 11, 2022
Facile approach to observe and quantify the α(IIb)β3 integrin on a single-cell
Jiao Zhai1, Yaling Wang, Chao Xu
1Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100049, China.
Abstract:
We report for the first time seeing and counting integrin α(IIb)β3 on a single-cell level. The proposed method is based on the using of the Au cluster probe. With the fluorescent property of Au24 cluster and the specific targeting ability of peptide, our probe can directly visualize integrin α(IIb)β3 on the membrane of human erythroleukemia cells (HEL) via confocal microscopy. On the basis of the accurate formula of our probe (Au24Peptide8), the number of integrin α(IIb)β3 can be precisely counted by quantifying the gold content on a single HEL cell via laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Our results reveal that the number of integrin α(IIb)β3 on a single cell varies from 5.75 × 10(-17) to 9.11 × 10(-17) mol, because of the heteroexpression levels of α(IIb)β3 on individual cells.
Related Concept Videos
Activation of Integrins
In "outside-in signaling," external factors in the extracellular space bind to exposed ligand binding sites on integrins. This causes the inactive protein to undergo a conformational change to become active. Integrins are often clustered on the cell membrane. Repetitive and regularly spaced ligand binding...
Integrins
Some ECM proteins assemble into a basement membrane to which the remaining components adhere. Proteoglycans typically form the bulk of the ECM while fibrous proteins, like collagen,...
Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions
Some...

