A family of molecular proton sensors that can be programmed to sit at specific distances from the surface of a membrane has been devised by Seiichi Uchiyama and Prasanna de Silva at Queen's University in Belfast, UK, and Kaoru Iwai at Nara Women's University in Japan.
These molecules have position-tuning groups that 'seek out' a local environment that matches their own compatibility with water. They thus distribute themselves at various distances along a radial coordinate of a membranous sphere called a micelle. The local proton concentration determines the intensity of emission from a fluorescent 'reporter' group on the sensor, whereas the asymmetry of local electronic-charge polarity determines the emission wavelength.
All of these details can be mapped. This technique might one day provide clues about how biological surfaces and structures function.
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Chemical sensing: Molecular mapping. Nature 453, 701 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/453701b
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/453701b