Direct fluorescent-dye labeling of α-tubulin in mammalian cells for live cell and superresolution imaging.
Direct fluorescent-dye labeling of α-tubulin in mammalian cells for live cell and superresolution imaging.
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DOI:
10.1091/mbc.e17-03-0161
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发表时间:
2017-10-15
影响因子:
3.3
通讯作者:
Elia N
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Schvartz T;Aloush N;Goliand I;Segal I;Nachmias D;Arbely E;Elia N
This work describes an elegant approach for direct, site-specific labeling of proteins with fluorescent-dyes for live cell imaging. By integrating a noncanonical amino acid that is capable of binding a fluorescent dye into tubulin, we directly and specifically labeled tubulin with a fluorescent-dye and imaged microtubules in live mammlian cells. Genetic code expansion and bioorthogonal labeling provide for the first time a way for direct, site-specific labeling of proteins with fluorescent-dyes in live cells. Although the small size and superb photophysical parameters of fluorescent-dyes offer unique advantages for high-resolution microscopy, this approach has yet to be embraced as a tool in live cell imaging. Here we evaluated the feasibility of this approach by applying it for α-tubulin labeling. After a series of calibrations, we site-specifically labeled α-tubulin with silicon rhodamine (SiR) in live mammalian cells in an efficient and robust manner. SiR-labeled tubulin successfully incorporated into endogenous microtubules at high density, enabling video recording of microtubule dynamics in interphase and mitotic cells. Applying this labeling approach to structured illumination microscopy resulted in an increase in resolution, highlighting the advantages in using a smaller, brighter tag. Therefore, using our optimized assay, genetic code expansion provides an attractive tool for labeling proteins with a minimal, bright tag in quantitative high-resolution imaging.