In vivo quantification of G protein coupled receptor interactions using spectrally resolved two-photon microscopy

The study of protein interactions in living cells is an important area of research because the information accumulated both benefits industrial applications as well as increases basic fundamental biological knowledge. Förster (Fluorescence) Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) between a donor molecule in an electronically excited state and a nearby acceptor molecule has been frequently utilized for studies of protein-protein interactions in living cells. The proteins of interest are tagged with two different types of fluorescent probes and expressed in biological cells. The fluorescent probes are then excited, typically using laser light, and the spectral properties of the fluorescence emission emanating from the fluorescent probes is collected and analyzed. Information regarding the degree of the protein interactions is embedded in the spectral emission data. Typically, the cell must be scanned a number of times in order to accumulate enough spectral information to accurately quantify the extent of the protein interactions for each region of interest within the cell. However, the molecular composition of these regions may change during the course of the acquisition process, limiting the spatial determination of the quantitative values of the apparent FRET efficiencies to an average over entire cells. By means of a spectrally resolved two-photon microscope, we are able to obtain a full set of spectrally resolved images after only one complete excitation scan of the sample of interest. From this pixel-level spectral data, a map of FRET efficiencies throughout the cell is calculated. By applying a simple theory of FRET in oligomeric complexes to the experimentally obtained distribution of FRET efficiencies throughout the cell, a single spectrally resolved scan reveals stoichiometric and structural information about the oligomer complex under study. Here we describe the procedure of preparing biological cells (the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae) expressing membrane receptors (sterile 2 α-factor receptors) tagged with two different types of fluorescent probes. Furthermore, we illustrate critical factors involved in collecting fluorescence data using the spectrally resolved two-photon microscopy imaging system. The use of this protocol may be extended to study any type of protein which can be expressed in a living cell with a fluorescent marker attached to it.