Issue 14, 2021

Analysis of protein phosphorylation in solution and in cells by using an ATP analogue in combination with fluorescence techniques

Abstract

Protein phosphorylation is a very important mechanism for regulating and controlling the activity and function of proteins, and is closely associated with signal transduction, gene expression, cell cycle and other life activities in organisms. In this paper, we proposed a new strategy for studying protein phosphorylation in living cells by combining fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) with a small molecule adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) analogue. We synthesized a new ATP analogue functionalized by norbornene (ATP-NB), and a tetrazine modified fluorescent probe Cyanine3 (TZ-Cy3). Based on the inverse electron demand Diels–Alder (D–A) reaction, ATP-NB phosphorylated proteins in solution and in living cells were in situ labelled with TZ-Cy3. By combining FRET with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FRET-FCS) and imaging technology, we established an efficient method for studying the phosphorylation of proteins in solution and in living cells using an ATP analogue instead of natural ATP. We studied the effects of phosphatase inhibitors on the phosphorylation of proteins in living cells. Our results documented that ATP-NB is a small molecule ATP analogue with hydrophobicity, which can penetrate cells and efficiently phosphorylate proteins in living cells. This strategy is well suitable for in situ study of protein phosphorylation in living cells.

Graphical abstract: Analysis of protein phosphorylation in solution and in cells by using an ATP analogue in combination with fluorescence techniques

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 अप्रैल 2021
Accepted
08 जून 2021
First published
09 जून 2021

Analyst, 2021,146, 4506-4514

Analysis of protein phosphorylation in solution and in cells by using an ATP analogue in combination with fluorescence techniques

Y. Li, X. Huang and J. Ren, Analyst, 2021, 146, 4506 DOI: 10.1039/D1AN00742D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements