Versatile Interacting Peptide (VIP) Tags for Labeling Proteins with Bright Chemical Reporters

Hannah K. Zane, Julia K. Doh, Caroline A. Enns, Kimberly E. Beatty

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Fluorescence microscopy is an essential tool for the biosciences, enabling the direct observation of proteins in their cellular environment. New methods that facilitate attachment of photostable synthetic fluorophores with genetic specificity are needed to advance the frontiers of biological imaging. Here, we describe a new set of small, selective, genetically encoded tags for proteins based on a heterodimeric coiled-coil interaction between two peptides: CoilY and CoilZ. Proteins expressed as a fusion to CoilZ were selectively labeled with the complementary CoilY fluorescent probe peptide. Fluorophore-labeled target proteins were readily detected in cell lysates with high specificity and sensitivity. We found that these versatile interacting peptide (VIP) tags allowed rapid and specific delivery of bright organic dyes or quantum dots to proteins displayed on living cells. Additionally, we validated that either CoilY or CoilZ could serve as the VIP tag, which enabled us to observe two distinct cell-surface protein targets with this one heterodimeric pair.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)470-474
Number of pages5
JournalChemBioChem
Volume18
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2 2017

Keywords

  • coiled coils
  • conjugation
  • fluorescent probes
  • microscopy
  • protein engineering

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Medicine
  • Molecular Biology
  • Organic Chemistry

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