Site-specific labeling of genetically encoded azido groups for multicolor, single-molecule fluorescence imaging of GPCRs

Abstract

Heptahelical G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) mediate transmembrane signal transduction to facilitate intercellular communication. GPCRs assemble in the membrane bilayer with a variety of cytoplasmic adapter and scaffold proteins to form molecular machines, or "signalosomes," which undergo complex dynamic assembly and disassembly reactions. Despite significant recent advances in structural studies of GPCRs and their associated cytoplasmic components, understanding transmembrane signaling in four dimensions with chemical precision requires new approaches. One promising approach to study allosteric effects involved in signalosome reaction pathways is to use multicolor single-molecule detection (SMD) fluorescence experiments in biochemically defined systems. We describe here the methodological foundation for automated, multicolor, single-molecule fluorescence studies of the structural and compositional dynamics of macromolecular complexes involved in signal transduction. We present a general, simple, and robust method for stoichiometric, site-specific fluorescence labeling of expressed GPCRs. The method is based on bioorthogonal conjugation of a fluorescent reporter group to a genetically encoded azido group introduced into expressed GPCRs using amber codon suppression. We then present a strategy to reconstitute labeled GPCRs in native-like membranes and to tether-oriented samples onto surfaces amenable for interrogation by total internal reflectance fluorescence (TIRF) spectroscopy. We describe how to assemble an automated four-color epifluorescence microscope with SMD-TIRF optics. Finally, we discuss how to adapt engineered samples for high-throughput imaging with the aim of understanding the kinetic relationships between ligand binding and the dynamic regulation of the GPCR signalosome.

Keywords: Alkyne–azide cycloaddition; Bioorthogonal ligation; Fluorophore photostability; G protein-coupled receptors; Mammalian cells; Single-molecule fluorescence; Site-specific incorporation; Structural dynamics; Surface chemistry; Transfer-RNA synthetase; Transmembrane proteins; Unnatural amino acid.