Method for Measurement of Viral Fusion Kinetics at the Single Particle Level
Summary
We present an in vitro, two-color fluorescence assay to visualize the fusion of single virus particles with a fluid target bilayer. By labeling viral particles with fluorophores that differentially stain the viral membrane and its interior, we are able to monitor the kinetics of hemifusion and pore formation.
Abstract
Membrane fusion is an essential step during entry of enveloped viruses into cells. Conventional fusion assays typically report on a large number of fusion events, making it difficult to quantitatively analyze the sequence of the molecular steps involved. We have developed an in vitro, two-color fluorescence assay to monitor kinetics of single virus particles fusing with a target bilayer on an essentially fluid support.
Influenza viral particles are incubated with a green lipophilic fluorophore to stain the membrane and a red hydrophilic fluorophore to stain the viral interior. We deposit a ganglioside-containing lipid bilayer on the dextran-functionilized glass surface of a flow cell, incubate the viral particles on the planar bilayer and image the fluorescence of a 100 x 100 μm2 area, containing several hundreds of particles, on a CCD camera. By imaging both the red and green fluorescence, we can simultaneously monitor the behavior of the membrane dye (green) and the aqueous content (red) of the particles.
Upon lowering the pH to a value below the fusion pH, the particles will fuse with the membrane. Hemifusion, the merging of the outer leaflet of the viral membrane with the outer leaflet of the target membrane, will be visible as a sudden change in the green fluorescence of a particle. Upon the subsequent fusion of the two remaining distal leaflets a pore will be formed and the red-emitting fluorophore in the viral particle will be released under the target membrane. This event will give rise to a decrease of the red fluorescence of individual particles. Finally, the integrated fluorescence from a pH-sensitive fluorophore that is embedded in the target membrane reports on the exact time of the pH drop.
From the three fluorescence-time traces, all the important events (pH drop, lipid mixing upon hemifusion, content mixing upon pore formation) can now be extracted in a straightforward manner and for every particle individually. By collecting the elapsed times for the various transitions for many individual particles in histograms, we can determine the lifetimes of the corresponding intermediates. Even hidden intermediates that do not have a direct fluorescent observable can be visualized directly from these histograms.
Protocol
Discussion
Preparation of fluid and continuous supported lipid bilayers can be challenging. Trace amounts of contaminating material or surface defects will prevent spreading of bilayers. Careful cleaning and deposition of a uniform layer of dextran are essential.
Prolonged imaging of virus particles can bleach the fluorescent labels or cause them to become inactivated. Photo-damage of this kind is well known in the bio-imaging and single molecule fields and is generally believed to stem from the generat…
Acknowledgements
The work was supported by NIH grants AI57159 (to S.C.H.) and AI72346 (to A.M.v.O.). S.C.H. is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.
Materials
| Material Name | Type | Company | Catalogue Number | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corning cover glass squares, 25 mm | Sigma | CLS286525 | ||
| Fused silica slides | Technical Glass | |||
| Staining rack | Thomas Scientific | 8542E40 | ||
| (3- glycidoxypropyl)trimethoxysilane | Gelest | SIG5840.1 | ||
| Dextran T-500 | Pharmacosmos | 5510 0500 4006 | ||
| 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) | Avanti | 850375 | ||
| 1-palmitoyl-2oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) | Avanti | 850457 | ||
| Cholesterol | Avanti | 700000 | ||
| N-((6-(biotinoyl)amino)hexanoyl)-1,2-dihexadecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine, triethylammonium salt (biotin-X DHPE) | Invitrogen | B1616 | ||
| Streptavidin, fluorescein conjugate | Invitrogen | S-869 | ||
| Disialoganglioside GD1a from bovine brain | Sigma | G2392 | ||
| Mini Extruder | Avanti | 610000 | ||
| 0.1 micron polycarbonate membrane filters | Whatman | 800309 | ||
| 10 mm drain discs (membrane supports) | Whatman | 230300 | ||
| Sulforhodamine b sodium salt | S1402 | |||
| Octadecyl rhodamine 110 (Rh110C18) | See Floyd et al. 2008 for synthesis protocol | |||
| PD-10 desalting columns | GE Healthcare | 17-0851-01 | ||
| Nikon fluorescence microscope | Nikon | TE2000-U | ||
| Plan Apo TIRF 60x 1.45 NA objective | Nikon | |||
| Innova 70C Spectrum Ar/Kr laser | Coherent | |||
| Syringe Pump | Harvard Apparatus | 702213 |
References
- Elender, G., Kuhner, M., Sackmann, E. Functionalisation of Si/SiO2 and glass surfaces with ultrathin dextran films and deposition of lipid bilayers. Biosens Bioelectron. 11, 565-577 (1996).
- Floyd, D. L., Ragains, J. R., Skehel, J. J., Harrison, S. C., van Oijen, A. M. Single-particle kinetics of influenza virus membrane fusion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 105, 15382-15387 (2008).
