Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 13, 2026
Visualizing Single Molecular Complexes In Vivo Using Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: September 8, 2009
Direct Visualization and Quantitative Modeling of Mass Transport Limitation in Biomolecular Kinetics via
Mingqian Chen1, Jiacong Li1, Yuhong Li1
1Department of Nano Biosensing and Artificial Intelligence, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430079, P. R. China.
Mass transport limitation (MTL) effects on biomolecular kinetics are now visualized and quantified in real-time using imaging metasurface plasmon resonance (Meta-SPR). New models offer robust affinity and kinetics determination, overcoming limitations of traditional methods.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Analytical Chemistry
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Mass transport limitation (MTL) significantly impacts biomolecular interaction kinetics.
- Direct visualization and quantification of MTL effects have been challenging.
- Existing methods struggle with accurate kinetic parameter extraction due to MTL.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a method for real-time visualization and quantification of MTL in biomolecular interactions.
- To address the unidentifiability of the traditional mass transport coefficient (k_m).
- To introduce robust alternative models for kinetic and affinity determination.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an imaging-based metasurface plasmon resonance (Meta-SPR) platform.
- Developed a pseudoactivity model (α_p) and a free-R_max model.
- Validated methods across Meta-SPR, SPR, and Bio-Layer Interferometry (BLI) platforms.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated real-time visualization of MTL and flow-path signal decay.
- Showed that the traditional mass transport coefficient (k_m) is unidentifiable.
- Introduced α_p and free-R_max models for robust kinetic and affinity measurements.
- Validated the new models across different SPR platforms.
Conclusions:
- The Meta-SPR platform enables quantitative mapping of MTL severity.
- The proposed pseudoactivity and free-R_max models provide accurate and robust kinetic and affinity data.
- These methods offer broadly applicable tools for analyzing biomolecular interactions in various SPR systems.
