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  3. A Molecular Chameleon for Mapping Subcellular Polarity in an Unfolded Proteome Environment

A Molecular Chameleon for Mapping Subcellular Polarity in an Unfolded Proteome Environment

  • Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 Jun 15;59(25):10129-10135. doi: 10.1002/anie.201914263.
Tze Cin Owyong 1 2,  Pramod Subedi 3,  Jieru Deng 3,  Elizabeth Hinde 4,  Jason J Paxman 3,  Jonathan M White 1,  Weisan Chen 3,  Begoña Heras 3,  Wallace W H Wong 1,  Yuning Hong 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, School of Chemistry, Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.
  • 2 Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3086, Australia.
  • 3 Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, 3086, Australia.
  • 4 School of Physics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia.
PMID: 31826303 DOI: 10.1002/anie.201914263
Abstract

Environmental polarity is an important factor that drives biomolecular interactions to regulate cell function. Herein, a general method of using the fluorogenic probe NTPAN-MI is reported to quantify the subcellular polarity change in response to protein unfolding. NTPAN-MI fluorescence is selectively activated upon labeling unfolded proteins with exposed thiols, thereby reporting on the extent of proteostasis. NTPAN-MI also reveals the collapse of the host proteome caused by influenza A virus Infection. The emission profile of NTPAN-MI contains information of the local polarity of the unfolded proteome, which can be resolved through spectral phasor analysis. Under stress conditions that disrupt different checkpoints of protein quality control, distinct patterns of dielectric constant distribution in the cytoplasm can be observed. However, in the nucleus, the unfolded proteome was found to experience a more hydrophilic environment across all the stress conditions, indicating the central role of nucleus in the stress response process.

Keywords

aggregation-induced emission; fluorescence; proteins; proteostasis; solvatochromism.

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