Direct detection of endogenous Gαi activity in cells with a sensitive conformational biosensor

Activation of heterotrimeric G-proteins (Gαβγ) by G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is not only a mechanism broadly used by eukaryotes to transduce signals across the plasma membrane, but also the target for a large fraction of clinical drugs. However, approaches typically used to assess this signaling mechanism by directly measuring G-protein activity, like optical biosensors, suffer from limitations. On one hand, many of these biosensors require expression of exogenous GPCRs and/or G-proteins, compromising readout fidelity. On the other hand, biosensors that measure endogenous signaling may still interfere with the signaling process under investigation or suffer from having a small dynamic range of detection, hindering broad applicability. Here, we developed an optical biosensor that detects the endogenous G-protein active species Gαi-GTP upon stimulation of endogenous GPCRs more robustly than current state-of-the-art sensors for the same purpose. Its design is based on the principle of bystander Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET) and leverages the Gαi-binding protein named GINIP as a high affinity and specific detector module of the GTP-bound conformation of Gαi. We optimized this design to prevent interference with G_i-dependent signaling (cAMP inhibition) and to enable implementation in different experimental systems with endogenous GPCRs, including neurotransmitter receptors in primary astroglial cells or opioid receptors in cell lines, which revealed opioid neuropeptide-mediated activation profiles different from those observed with other biosensors involving exogenous GPCRs and G-proteins. Overall, we introduce a biosensor that directly and sensitively detects endogenous activation of G-proteins by GPCRs across different experimental settings without interfering with the subsequent propagation of signaling.