Genetic Code Expansion- and Click Chemistry-Based Site-Specific Protein Labeling for Intracellular DNA-PAINT Imaging

Super-resolution microscopy allows imaging of cellular structures at nanometer resolution. This comes with a demand for small labels which can be attached directly to the structures of interest. In the context of protein labeling, one way to achieve this is by using genetic code expansion (GCE) and click chemistry. With GCE, small labeling handles in the form of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) are site-specifically introduced into a target protein. In a subsequent step, these amino acids can be directly labeled with small organic dyes by click chemistry reactions. Click chemistry labeling can also be combined with other methods, such as DNA-PAINT in which a "clickable" oligonucleotide is first attached to the ncAA-bearing target protein and then labeled with complementary fluorescent oligonucleotides. This protocol will cover both aspects: I describe (1) how to encode ncAAs and perform intracellular click chemistry-based labeling with an improved GCE system for eukaryotic cells and (2) how to combine click chemistry-based labeling with DNA-PAINT super-resolution imaging. As an example, I show click-PAINT imaging of vimentin and low-abundance nuclear protein, nucleoporin 153.