FRET Detection of Cellular α4-Integrin Conformational Activation

AbstractIntegrins are cell adhesion receptors, expressed on every cell type, that have been postulated to undergo conformational changes upon activation. Here, different affinity states were generated by exposing α4-integrins to divalent ions or by inside-out activation using a chemokine receptor. We probed the dynamic structural transformation of the integrin on live cells using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between a peptide donor, which specifically binds to the α4-integrin, and octadecyl rhodamine B acceptors incorporated into the plasma membrane. We analyzed the data using a model that describes FRET between a random distribution of donors and acceptors in an infinite plane. The distance of closest approach was found to vary with the affinity of the integrin. The change in distance of closest approach was ∼50Å between resting and Mn2+ activated receptors and ∼25Å after chemokine activation. We used confocal microscopy to probe the lateral organization of donors and acceptors subsequent to integrin activation. Taken together, FRET and confocal results suggest that changes in FRET efficiencies are primarily due to the vertical extension of the integrin. The coordination between the extension of α4-integrin and its affinity provides a mechanism for Dembo's catch-bond concept