Issue 11, 2020

Bioorthogonal mRNA labeling at the poly(A) tail for imaging localization and dynamics in live zebrafish embryos

Abstract

Live imaging of mRNA in cells and organisms is important for understanding the dynamic aspects underlying its function. Ideally, labeling of mRNA should not alter its structure or function, nor affect the biological system. However, most methods applied in vivo make use of genetically encoded tags and reporters that significantly enhance the size of the mRNA of interest. Alternately, we utilize the 3′ poly(A) tail as a non-coding repetitive hallmark to covalently label mRNAs via bioorthogonal chemistry with different fluorophores from a wide range of spectra without significantly changing the size. We demonstrate that the labeled mRNAs can be visualized in cells and zebrafish embryos, and that they are efficiently translated. Importantly, the labeled mRNAs acquired the proper subcellular localization in developing zebrafish embryos and their dynamics could be tracked in vivo.

Graphical abstract: Bioorthogonal mRNA labeling at the poly(A) tail for imaging localization and dynamics in live zebrafish embryos

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
26 nov 2019
Accepted
21 feb 2020
First published
24 feb 2020
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 3089-3095

Bioorthogonal mRNA labeling at the poly(A) tail for imaging localization and dynamics in live zebrafish embryos

K. J. Westerich, K. S. Chandrasekaran, T. Gross-Thebing, N. Kueck, E. Raz and A. Rentmeister, Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 3089 DOI: 10.1039/C9SC05981D

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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