Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Single-Cell Fluidic Force Microscopy Reveals Stress- Dependent Molecular Interactions In Yeast Mating, Marion Mathelié-Guinlet, Felipe Viela, JéRôMe Dehullu, Sviatlana Filimonava, Jason M. Rauceo, Peter N. Lipke, Yves F. DufrêNe

Publications and Research

Sexual agglutinins of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are proteins mediating cell aggregation during mating. Complementary agglutinins expressed by cells of opposite mating types “a” and “α” bind together to promote agglutination and facilitate fusion of haploid cells. By means of an innovative single-cell manipulation assay combining fluidic force microscopy with force spectroscopy, we unravel the strength of single specific bonds between a- and α-agglutinins (~100 pN) which require pheromone induction. Prolonged cell–cell contact strongly increases adhesion between mating cells, likely resulting from an increased expression of agglutinins. In addition, we highlight the critical role of disulfide bonds of the …