Browsing by Subject "Fluorescent proteins"

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    Monitoring endosomal trafficking of the G protein-coupled receptor somatostatin receptor 3
    (Elsevier, 2014) Tower-Gilchrist, Cristy; Styers, Melanie L.; Yoder, Bradley K.; Berbari, Nicolas F.; Sztul, Elizabeth; Biology, School of Science
    Endocytic trafficking of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) regulates the number of cell surface receptors available for activation by agonists and serves as one mechanism that controls the intensity and duration of signaling. Deregulation of GPCR-mediated signaling pathways results in a multitude of diseases, and thus extensive efforts have been directed toward understand the pathways and molecular events that regulate endocytic trafficking of these receptors. The general paradigms associated with internalization and recycling, as well as many of the key regulators involved in endosomal trafficking of GPCRs have been identified. This knowledge provides goalposts to facilitate the analysis of endosomal pathways traversed by previously uncharacterized GPCRs. Some of the most informative markers associated with GPCR transit are the Rab members of the Ras-related family of small GTPases. Individual Rabs show high selectivity for distinct endosomal compartments, and thus co-localization of a GPCR with a particular Rab informs on the internalization pathway traversed by the receptor. Progress in our knowledge of endosomal trafficking of GPCRs has been achieved through advances in our ability to tag GPCRs and Rabs with fluorescent proteins and perform live cell imaging of multiple fluorophores, allowing real-time observation of receptor trafficking between subcellular compartments in a cell culture model.
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    A practical method for monitoring FRET-based biosensors in living animals using two-photon microscopy
    (American Psychological Society, 2015-12-01) Tao, Wen; Rubart, Michael; Ryan, Jennifer; Xiao, Xiao; Qiao, Chunping; Hato, Takashi; Davidson, Michael W.; Dunn, Kenneth W.; Day, Richard N.; Department of Medicine, IU School of Medicine
    The commercial availability of multiphoton microscope systems has nurtured the growth of intravital microscopy as a powerful technique for evaluating cell biology in the relevant context of living animals. In parallel, new fluorescent protein (FP) biosensors have become available that enable studies of the function of a wide range of proteins in living cells. Biosensor probes that exploit Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) are among the most sensitive indicators of an array of cellular processes. However, differences between one-photon and two-photon excitation (2PE) microscopy are such that measuring FRET by 2PE in the intravital setting remains challenging. Here, we describe an approach that simplifies the use of FRET-based biosensors in intravital 2PE microscopy. Based on a systematic comparison of many different FPs, we identified the monomeric (m) FPs mTurquoise and mVenus as particularly well suited for intravital 2PE FRET studies, enabling the ratiometric measurements from linked FRET probes using a pair of experimental images collected simultaneously. The behavior of the FPs is validated by fluorescence lifetime and sensitized emission measurements of a set of FRET standards. The approach is demonstrated using a modified version of the AKAR protein kinase A biosensor, first in cells in culture, and then in hepatocytes in the liver of living mice. The approach is compatible with the most common 2PE microscope configurations and should be applicable to a variety of different FRET probes.