
Abstract Regulated proteolysis of signaling proteins under mechanical tension enables cells to communicate with their environment in a variety of developmental and physiologic contexts. The role of force in inducing proteolytic sensitivity has been explored using magnetic tweezers at the single-molecule level with bead-tethered assays, but such efforts have been limited by challenges in ensuring that beads are not restrained by multiple tethers. Here, we describe a multiplexed assay for single-molecule proteolysis that overcomes the multiple-tether problem using a flow extension (FLEX) strategy on a microscope equipped with magnetic tweezers. Particle tracking and computational sorting of flow-induced displacements allows assignment of tethered substrates into singly-captured and multiply-tethered bins, with the fraction of fully mobile, single-tethered substrates depending inversely on the concentration of substrate loaded on the coverslip. Computational exclusion of multiply-tethered beads enables robust assessment of on-target proteolysis by the highly specific tobacco etch virus protease and the more promiscuous metalloprotease ADAM17. This method should be generally applicable to a wide range of proteases and readily extensible to robust evaluation of proteolytic sensitivity as a function of applied magnetic force.
Magnetic Phenomena, Microfluidics, Potyvirus, DNA, ADAM17 Protein, Proof of Concept Study, Single Molecule Imaging, Motion, Endopeptidases, Proteolysis, Humans, Peptides
Magnetic Phenomena, Microfluidics, Potyvirus, DNA, ADAM17 Protein, Proof of Concept Study, Single Molecule Imaging, Motion, Endopeptidases, Proteolysis, Humans, Peptides
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