Steric attenuation of membrane-associated dimerization-induced fluorescence for cell-free biosensing

We present a membrane-associated, cell-free biosensing reporter based on rapalog-induced split sfCherry reconstitution. Rapalog increased fluorescence in solution, lipid vesicles, and supported lipid bilayers. Antibodies binding to epitope tags near the dimerization interface reduced the fluorescence signal, consistent with steric interference with reporter assembly.