Abstract

One of the major challenges of biological research is to understand how proteins located on the cell surface transmit signals to the inside of the cell. Using the mouse as a model system our laboratory has studied one such protein, Qa-2 protein, which controls the rate of cell division of preimplantation embryos. Qa-2 is attached to the outer layer of the cell membrane by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) linkage, which does not traverse the cell membrane. Thus, cell surface Qa-2 protein cannot initiate a signal on its own, but requires a partner molecule(s). In order to search for the partner molecule(s) for Qa-2 protein we have utilized two imaging techniques: immunofluorescence and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Due to the paucity of material available from preimplantation embryos and due to the abundance of Qa-2 protein on T lymphocytes (T cells), we have used the latter for our studies. We tested the hypothesis that Qa-2 protein must be located in lipid rafts to initiate signaling by co-crosslinking Qa-2 to another molecule, CD4, located outside of the lipid rafts. As a control, we used co-crosslinking with CD8, known to be located in the lipid rafts. We used the above techniques to simultaneously label Qa-2 and lipid rafts before and after co-crosslinking. This basic research on T cells has the potential to be applied to preimplantation embryos to assist evaluation of embryo health after in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Notes

Poster presented at the 2006 Validating TestBED and Research Posters on Real World Prblems for I-PLUS Development Conference

Keywords

Transduction, in vitro fertilization, SEM, immunofluorescence

Subject Categories

Proteins - Imaging, Imaging systems in biology, T cells - Receptors

Disciplines

Bioimaging and biomedical optics

Publisher

Bernard M. Gordon Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems (Gordon-CenSSIS)

Publication Date

10-2006

Rights Holder

Bernard M. Gordon Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems (Gordon-CenSSIS)


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