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A Fluorescence‐Based Sensor Assay that Monitors General Protein Aggregation in Human Cells
Author(s) -
Pereira Marisa,
Tomé Diogo,
Domingues Ana S.,
Varanda Ana S.,
Paulo Cristiana,
Santos Manuel A. S.,
Soares Ana R.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
biotechnology journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.144
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1860-7314
pISSN - 1860-6768
DOI - 10.1002/biot.201700676
Subject(s) - proteostasis , green fluorescent protein , protein aggregation , hsp27 , protein folding , heat shock protein , mcherry , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , reporter gene , fusion protein , bimolecular fluorescence complementation , biology , biophysics , hsp70 , biochemistry , gene , gene expression , recombinant dna
Protein conformational disorders are characterized by disruption of protein folding and toxic accumulation of protein aggregates. Here we describe a sensitive and simple method to follow and monitor general protein aggregation in human cells. Heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) is an oligomeric small heat shock protein that binds and keeps unfolded proteins in a folding competent state. This high specificity of HSP27 for aggregated proteins can be explored to monitor aggregation in living cells by fusing it to a fluorescent protein as Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP). We have constructed a HeLa stable cell line expressing a HSP27:GFP chimeric reporter protein and after validation, this stable cell line is exposed to different agents that interfere with proteostasis, namely Arsenite, MG132, and Aβ‐peptide. Exposure to proteome destabilizers lead to re‐localization of HSP27:GFP fluorescence to foci, confirming that our reporter system is functional and can be used to detect and follow protein aggregation in living cells. This reporter is a valuable tool to setup wide‐genetic screens to identify genes and pathways involved in protein misfolding and aggregation.