Bio-orthogonal labeling as a tool to visualize and identify newly synthesized proteins in Caenorhabditis elegans

Milena Ullrich, Vanessa Liang, Jürgen Götz, Yee Lian Chew, Samuel Banister, Xiaoming Song, Thiri Zaw, Hong Lam, Slavica Berber, Michael Kassiou, Hannah R. Nicholas

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    38 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    In this protocol we describe the incorporation of bio-orthogonal amino acids as a versatile method for visualizing and identifying de novo-synthesized proteins in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. This protocol contains directions on implementing three complementary types of analysis: 'click chemistry' followed by western blotting, click chemistry followed by immunofluorescence, and isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) quantitative mass spectrometry. The detailed instructions provided herein enable researchers to investigate the de novo proteome, an analysis that is complicated by the fact that protein molecules are chemically identical to each other, regardless of the timing of their synthesis. Our protocol circumvents this limitation by identifying de novo-synthesized proteins via the incorporation of the chemically modifiable azidohomoalanine instead of the natural amino acid methionine in the nascent protein, followed by facilitating the visualization of the resulting labeled proteins in situ. It will therefore be an ideal tool for studying de novo protein synthesis in physiological and pathological processes including learning and memory. The protocol requires 10 d for worm growth, liquid culture and synchronization; 1-2 d for bio-orthogonal labeling; and, with regard to analysis, 3-4 d for western blotting, 5-6 d for immunofluorescence or ~3 weeks for mass spectrometry.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)2237-2255
    Number of pages19
    JournalNature Protocols
    Volume9
    Issue number9
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Sept 2014

    Bibliographical note

    A corrigendum exists for this article and can be found in Nature Protocols, 9, 2903, doi: 10.1038/nprot1214-2903c

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