Mass photometry

James Wilkinson

Refeyn Ltd., Oxford, UK

Mass photometry

Mass photometry is an ultra-sensitive microscopy technique, which allows mass determination at the single molecule level. It is based on detecting scattering signal (contrast) generated by an object at the glass-water interface. Since mass photometry contrast is directly proportional to molecular mass it gives direct information on mass distribution with unprecedented sensitivity.

During the brief introduction I will explain the principles underlying mass determination using light, present current examples and discuss further applications including the use of the system for optimization of Cryo-EM measurements and the formation of multicomponent complexes (for example ribosomes).

Selected references
• Young et al. Quantitative mass imaging of single biological macromolecules Science (2018) 360(6387):423–427

• Sonn-Segev et al. Quantifying the heterogeneity of macromolecular machines by mass photometry Nat Commun (2020) 11, 1772

• Olerinyova et al. Mass photometry of membrane proteins bioRxiv (2020) 02.28.969287; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.28.969287

• Wu & Piszczek. Measuring the affinity of protein-protein interactions on a single-molecule level by mass photometry Anal Biochem (2020) 592:113575

• Li et al. Single molecule mass photometry of nucleic acids Nucleic Acids Res (2020) 48(17):e97