Previous studies tracking AMPA receptor (AMPAR) diffusion at synapses observed a large mobile extrasynaptic AMPAR pool. Using super-resolution microscopy, we examined how fluorophore size and photostability affected AMPAR trafficking outside of, and within, post-synaptic densities (PSDs) from rats. Organic fluorescent dyes (≈4 nm), quantum dots, either small (≈10 nm diameter; sQDs) or big (>20 nm; bQDs), were coupled to AMPARs via different-sized linkers. We find that >90% of AMPARs labeled with fluorescent dyes or sQDs were diffusing in confined nanodomains in PSDs, which were stable for 15 min or longer. Less than 10% of sQD-AMPARs were extrasynaptic and highly mobile. In contrast, 5–10% of bQD-AMPARs were in PSDs and 90–95% were extrasynaptic as previously observed. Contrary to the hypothesis that AMPAR entry is limited by the occupancy of open PSD ‘slots’, our findings suggest that AMPARs rapidly enter stable ‘nanodomains’ in PSDs with lifetime >15 min, and do not accumulate in extrasynaptic membranes.

We imaged transiently transfected live glutamate receptors (iGluRs), namely AMPAR and NMDAR, with super-resolution in three-dimension, labeled with differently sized fluorophores. We used small organic fluorescent dyes (∼ 4 nm), small quantum dots (sQD, ∼10 nm in diameter), or big (commercial) quantum dots (bQD, ∼ 20 nm in diameter). The iGluRs were imaged along with a synaptic protein, Homer1c, using fiducial markers that eliminate stage drift, and under conditions where the receptor cross-linking is monitored or eliminated. With small probes under basal conditions, we find that both AMPAR and NMDAR are predominantly within the synapse (∼84-95%), in contrast to bQDs, which show only 5-10% within the synapse. The results can likely be explained by cross-linking and inhibited mobility of the iGluRs labeled with bQDs, but not with sQDs or organic fluorophores. Hence, this data indicates that there is not a highly diffusible pool of extrasynaptic iGluRs in the plasma membrane, as has been widely reported. In addition, within a synapse, the distribution is non-homogeneous, perhaps due to the non-homogeneous distribution of glutamate.

Because streptavidin is a homotetramer, it can bind multiple biotinylated ligands and cause target aggregation. To allow biotin detection without clustering, we previously engineered monomeric streptavidin (mSA) that is structurally similar to a single streptavidin subunit. Introducing the S25H mutation near the binding site increases the biotin dissociation half-life t 1/2 to 83 minutes. The slowly dissociating mutant, mSA2, is useful in imaging studies because it allows stable labeling of biotinylated targets. We show that mSA2 conjugated with Alexa 488 binds biotinylated receptors on HEK293 with high specificity, and bound mSA2–Alexa488 does not dissociate significantly during an imaging study lasting 50 minutes. As a structural monomer, mSA2 can be fused to other proteins to create bifunctional molecules. We tested the use of mSA2 in proximity dependent biotinylation, in which mSA2 is fused to a peptide or a protein that binds a protein of interest (POI) and is used to recruit photoactivatable biotin (PA-biotin) to the target molecule. Once the resulting cluster of interacting proteins is subjected to UV-initiated distance-dependent biotinylation, subsequent affinity purification of biotinylated proteins on streptavidin beads can identify protein molecules that interact with POI. In addition to proteins that directly interact with the mSA2 fusion, mSA2 also induces biotinylation of other proteins that are associated through a series of noncovalent interactions. We show that mSA2 fused to an antibody recognition domain can be recruited to the kinase Erk-2 using a commercially available antibody and induce biotinylation of a known Erk-2 substrate, GST-Elk-1. Therefore, mSA2 can be used to implement proximity dependent biotinylation and detect transient enzyme-substrate interactions.

Inteins are protein segments embedded in frame within a precursor sequence that catalyze a self-excision reaction and ligate the flanking sequences with a standard peptide bond. Split inteins are expressed as two separate polypeptide fragments and trans-splice upon subunit association. Split inteins have found use in biotechnology applications but their use in postsynthetic domain assembly in vivo has been limited to the ligation of two protein domains. Alternatively, they have been used to splice three domains and fragments in vitro. To further develop split intein-based applications in vivo, we have designed a cell-based assay for the postsynthetic splicing of three protein domains using orthogonal split inteins. Using naturally and artificially split inteins, NpuDnaE and SspDnaB, we show that a multidomain protein of 128 kDa can be assembled in Escherichia coli from individually expressed domains. In the current system, the main bottleneck in achieving high yield of tandem trans-spliced product appears to be the limited solubility of the SspDnaB precursors. Optimizing protein solubility should be important to achieve efficient combinatorial synthesis of protein domains in the cell.

We recently reported the engineering of monomeric streptavidin (mSA) for use in monomeric detection of biotinylated ligands. Although mSA can be expressed functionally on the surface of mammalian cells and yeast, the molecule does not fold correctly when expressed in Escherichia coli. Refolding from inclusion bodies is cumbersome and yields a limited amount of purified protein. Improving the final yield should facilitate its use in biotechnology. We tested the expression and purification of mSA fused to GST, MBP, thioredoxin, and sumo tags to simplify its purification and improve the yield. The fusion proteins can be expressed solubly in E. coli and increase the yield by more than 20-fold. Unmodified mSA can be obtained by proteolytically removing the fusion tag. Purified mSA can be immobilized on a solid matrix to purify biotinylated ligands. Together, expressing mSA as a fusion with a solubilization tag vastly simplifies its preparation and increases its usability in biotechnology.

Streptavidin and its homologs (together referred to as streptavidin) are widely used in molecular science owing to their highly selective and stable interaction with biotin. Other factors also contribute to the popularity of the streptavidin–biotin system, including the stability of the protein and various chemical and enzymatic biotinylation methods available for use with different experimental designs. The technology has enjoyed a renaissance of a sort in recent years, as new streptavidin variants are engineered to complement native proteins and novel methods of introducing selective biotinylation are developed for in vitro and in vivo applications. There have been notable developments in the areas of catalysis, cell biology, and proteomics in addition to continued applications in the more established areas of detection, labeling and drug delivery. This review summarizes recent advances in streptavidin engineering and new applications based on the streptavidin–biotin interaction.

ABSTRACT We recently reported the engineering of monomeric streptavidin, mSA, corresponding to one subunit of wild type (wt) streptavidin tetramer. The monomer was designed by homology modeling, in which the streptavidin and rhizavidin sequences were combined to engineer a high affinity binding pocket containing residues from a single subunit only. Although mSA is stable and binds biotin with nanomolar affinity, its fast off rate ( k off ) creates practical challenges during applications. We obtained a 1.9 Å crystal structure of mSA bound to biotin to understand their interaction in detail, and used the structure to introduce targeted mutations to improve its binding kinetics. To this end, we compared mSA to shwanavidin, which contains a hydrophobic lid containing F43 in the binding pocket and binds biotin tightly. However, the T48F mutation in mSA, which introduces a comparable hydrophobic lid, only resulted in a modest 20–40% improvement in the measured k off . On the other hand, introducing the S25H mutation near the bicyclic ring of bound biotin increased the dissociation half life ( t ½ ) from 11 to 83 min at 20°C. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations suggest that H25 stabilizes the binding loop L3,4 by interacting with A47, and protects key intermolecular hydrogen bonds by limiting solvent entry into the binding pocket. Concurrent T48F or T48W mutation clashes with H25 and partially abrogates the beneficial effects of H25. Taken together, this study suggests that stabilization of the binding loop and solvation of the binding pocket are important determinants of the dissociation kinetics in mSA. Proteins 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.