Plasmon Resonance Energy Transfer Nanoruler for Pinpointing Molecular Distance and Interaction on the Living Cell Membrane

Developing novel strategies to measure nanoscale distance and molecular interaction on a living cell membrane is of great significance but challenging. Here we develop a model of a linker-free plasmon resonance energy transfer, termed “PRET nanoruler”, which is composed of a single-sized nanogold-antibody conjugates donor (G26@antiCD71) and a fluorophore-labeled XQ-2d aptamer receptor (XQ-2d-Cy3), that produces a separation distance (r) dependent energy transfer (ηPRET). Both the theoretical finite element simulation and experiments evidence the observable PRET between single G26NPs and XQ-2d-Cy3. Regardless of the size of ηPRET, we could confirm r is less than 5 nm, the separation of two binding sites is in the range of 13.0–18.0 nm. There is a competitive binding of Tf and XQ-2d-Cy3 on CD71 receptors. PRET nanoruler realizes the estimation of the nanoscale separation distance, and determines the molecular interaction and competitive binding. It is an alternative tool for observing nanoscale single molecular events in the future.