scholarly journals FRET monitoring of transcription factor activities in living bacteria

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengchao Wang ◽  
Guangming Zhang ◽  
Zeling Xu ◽  
Zhe Chen ◽  
Xiaohong Liu ◽  
...  

Bacteria adapt to the constantly changing environments largely by transcriptional regulation through the activities of various transcription factors (TFs). However, techniques that monitor the in situ TF-promoter interactions in living bacteria are lacking. Herein, we developed a whole-cell TF-promoter binding assay based on the intermolecular Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between a fluorescent unnatural amino acid CouA which is genetically encoded into defined sites in TFs and the live cell fluorescent nucleic acid stain SYTO 9. We show that this new FRET pair monitors the intricate TF-promoter interactions elicited by various types of signal transduction systems with specificity and sensitivity. Furthermore, the assay is applicable to identify novel modulators of the regulatory systems of interest and monitor TF activities in bacteria colonized in C. elegans. In conclusion, we established a tractable and sensitive TF-promoter binding assay in living bacteria which not only complements currently available approaches for DNA-protein interactions but also provides novel opportunities for functional annotation of bacterial signal transduction systems and studies of the bacteria-host interface.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Harkes ◽  
Olga Kukk ◽  
Sravasti Mukherjee ◽  
Jeffrey Klarenbeek ◽  
Bram van den Broek ◽  
...  

Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM) is an intrinsically quantitative method to screen for protein-protein interactions and frequently used to record the outcome of signal transduction events. With new highly sensitive and photon efficient FLIM instrumentation, the technique also becomes attractive to screen, with high temporal resolution, for fast changes in Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET), such as those occurring upon activation of cell signaling. We studied the effects of siRNA-mediated individual knockdown of an extensive set of 22 different phosphodiesterases (PDEs) on baseline levels and agonist-induced changes of the second messenger cAMP. Using HeLa cells stably expressing our FRET-FLIM sensor we imaged many hundreds of cells at 5 second intervals for each condition. Following segmentation of cells by the deep-learning implementation Cellpose, FLIM time traces were calculated and fitted for dynamic analysis with custom-made Python scripts. Taking advantage of the quantitative FLIM data, we found very limited effects of PDE knockdown on baseline and agonist-induced peak levels of cAMP. However, cAMP breakdown in the decay phase was significantly slower when PDE3A and, to a lesser amount, PDE10A were knocked down, identifying these isoforms as dominant in HeLa cells. In conclusion, we present a robust platform that combines photon-efficient FLIM instrumentation with systematic gene knockdown and an automated open-source analysis pipeline. Our quantitative platform provides detailed kinetic analysis of cellular signals in individual cells with unprecedented throughput.


2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. nrs.04021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen L. Koterba ◽  
Brian G. Rowan

Bioluminescent resonance energy transfer (BRET2) is a recently developed technology for the measurement of protein-protein interactions in a live, cell-based system. BRET2 is characterized by the efficient transfer of excited energy between a bioluminescent donor molecule (Renilla luciferase) and a fluorescent acceptor molecule (a mutant of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP2)). The BRET2 assay offers advantages over fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) because it does not require an external light source thereby eliminating problems of photobleaching and autoflourescence. The absence of contamination by light results in low background that permits detection of very small changes in the BRET2 signal. BRET2 is dependent on the orientation and distance between two fusion proteins and therefore requires extensive preliminary standardization experiments to conclude a positive BRET2 signal independent of variations in protein titrations and arrangement in tertiary structures. Estrogen receptor (ER) signaling is modulated by steroid receptor coactivator 1 (SRC-1). To establish BRET2 in a ligand inducible system we used SRC-1 as the donor moiety and ER as the acceptor moiety. Expression and functionality of the fusion proteins were assessed by transient transfection in HEK-293 cells followed by Western blot analysis and measurement of ER-dependent reporter gene activity. These preliminary determinations are required prior to measuring nuclear receptor protein-protein interactions by BRET2. This article describes in detail the BRET2 methodology for measuring interaction between full-length ER and coregulator proteins in real-time, in an in vivo environment.


Endocrinology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 154 (10) ◽  
pp. 3925-3930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiuyan Feng ◽  
Meilin Zhang ◽  
Rongbin Guan ◽  
Deborah L. Segaloff

The LH receptor (LHR) and FSH receptor (FSHR) are each G protein-coupled receptors that play critical roles in reproductive endocrinology. Each of these receptors has previously been shown to self-associate into homodimers and oligomers shortly after their biosynthesis. As shown herein using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer to detect protein-protein interactions, our data show that the LHR and FSHR, when coexpressed in the same cells, specifically heterodimerize with each other. Further experiments confirm that at least a portion of the cellular LHR/FSHR heterodimers are present on the cell surface and are functional. We then sought to ascertain what effects, if any, heterodimerization between the LHR and FSHR might have on signaling. It was observed that when the LHR was expressed under conditions promoting the heterodimerization with FSHR, LH or human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) stimulation of Gs was attenuated. Conversely, when the FSHR was expressed under conditions promoting heterodimerization with the LHR, FSH-stimulated Gs activation was attenuated. These results demonstrate that the coexpression of the LHR and FSHR enables heterodimerizaton between the 2 gonadotropin receptors and results in an attenuation of signaling through each receptor.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (46) ◽  
pp. E10859-E10868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuwei Li ◽  
Jason A. Junge ◽  
Cosimo Arnesano ◽  
Garrett G. Gross ◽  
Jeffrey H. Miner ◽  
...  

Vertebrate embryogenesis and organogenesis are driven by cell biological processes, ranging from mitosis and migration to changes in cell size and polarity, but their control and causal relationships are not fully defined. Here, we use the developing limb skeleton to better define the relationships between mitosis and cell polarity. We combine protein-tagging and -perturbation reagents with advanced in vivo imaging to assess the role of Discs large 1 (Dlg1), a membrane-associated scaffolding protein, in mediating the spatiotemporal relationship between cytokinesis and cell polarity. Our results reveal that Dlg1 is enriched at the midbody during cytokinesis and that its multimerization is essential for the normal polarity of daughter cells. Defects in this process alter tissue dimensions without impacting other cellular processes. Our results extend the conventional view that division orientation is established at metaphase and anaphase and suggest that multiple mechanisms act at distinct phases of the cell cycle to transmit cell polarity. The approach employed can be used in other systems, as it offers a robust means to follow and to eliminate protein function and extends the Phasor approach for studying in vivo protein interactions by frequency-domain fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy of Förster resonance energy transfer (FLIM-FRET) to organotypic explant culture.


2008 ◽  
Vol 363 (1500) ◽  
pp. 2143-2151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Aoki ◽  
Etsuko Kiyokawa ◽  
Takeshi Nakamura ◽  
Michiyuki Matsuda

Fluorescence probes based on the principle of Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) have shed new light on our understanding of signal transduction cascades. Among them, unimolecular FRET probes containing fluorescence proteins are rapidly increasing in number because these genetically encoded probes can be easily loaded into living cells and allow simple acquisition of FRET images. We have developed probes for small GTPases, tyrosine kinases, serine–threonine kinases and phosphoinositides. Images obtained with these probes have revealed that membrane protrusions such as nascent lamellipodia or neurites provide an active signalling platform in the growth factor-stimulated cells.


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