Name: assessment of de novo protein synthesis rates in caenorhabditis elegans
Uploaded: 2020-09-12T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Assessment of de novo Protein Synthesis Rates in Caenorhabditis elegans at JoVE.com

We thank Chaniotakis M. and Kounakis K. for video recording and editing. K.P. is funded by a grant from the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) and the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT). N.T. is funded by grants from the European Research Council (ERC &#8211; GA695190 &#8211; MANNA), the European Commission Framework Programmes, and the Greek Ministry of Education.

NOTE: Both transcriptional and translational fusions to fluorophores can be used to evaluate de novo protein translation in several tissues. Protein synthesis rates can be assessed for multiple protein families that localized in different cellular compartments, including cytoplasm, mitochondria and nucleus7. The following strains are used to monitor global and neuronal protein synthesis rates, N2;Ex[pife-2GFP, pRF4], ife-2(ok306);Ex[pife-2</e...

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Protein synthesis modulation is essential for organismal homeostasis. During ageing, global as well as specific protein synthesis is perturbed. Recent studies reveal the fact that protein translation balance directly controls senescence and aging is not merely a byproduct of the aging process. In particular, core components of the translation machinery such as eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E), which facilitates mRNA capping during translation initiation, and thus the rate of cap-dependent protein translation, indu...

Protein synthesis and degradation is essential for organismal homeostasis. A multitude of age-related diseases are instigated by defective protein production1,2. In order to measure global protein translation rates, there are biochemical techniques such as ribosomal profiling, which involves deep sequencing of ribosome-protected mRNA fragments to monitor expression as well as novel protein synthesis3. This method, besides being an indirect readout of translational rates, as increased RNA association to ribosomes does not necessarily mean increased translation, has technical disadvantages, such as high cost and a requirement of a large amount of starting material. On the other hand, proteomics-based methods allow for direct protein quantification by pulse metabolic profiling followed by mass spectrometry analysis4,5. However, this is a semi-quantitative approach with limited temporal resolution that cannot be easily used in vivo. Moreover, labelling of the protein can be unequally distributed in the animal/tissue of interest. Importantly, both these methods can conceal tissue-specific or cell-specific variations in protein translation rates in whole animals or tissues, respectively.
Caenorhabditis elegans is an easy-to-use model organism that can be grown in large numbers6. Additionally, its genetic amenability and transparency allow for live imaging in vivo. This protocol describes the methodology to detect protein synthesis rates using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). We take advantage of the transgenic expression of fluorescent proteins, either in the whole organism or in specific tissues/cells. Transgenic animals may either express GFP using the promoter of a gene, which is widely/globally expressed or a tissue-specific promoter to target specific cell types. This technique can be extended to a specific promoter to examine protein synthesis rates of a specific protein.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Agar</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>5040</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Agarose</td>
			<td>Biozym</td>
			<td>8,40,004</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Agarose pads 2%</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Calcium chloride dehydrate (CaCl2&#8729;2H2O)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>C5080</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cholesterol</td>
			<td>SERVA Electrophoresis</td>
			<td>17101.01</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>cycloheximide</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>C-7698</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dissecting stereomicroscope</td>
			<td>Nikon Corporation</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>SMZ645</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>edc-3(ok1427);Ex[punc-119GFP, pRF4]</td>
			<td>Tavernarakis lab</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Maintain animals at 20 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Epifluorescence microscope</td>
			<td>Zeiss</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Axio Imager Z2</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Escherichia coli OP50 strain</td>
			<td>Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (CGC)</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fluorescence dissecting stereomicroscope</td>
			<td>Zeiss</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>SteREO Lumar V12</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Greiner Petri dishes (60 x 15 mm)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P5237</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ife-2(ok306);Ex[pife-2GFP, pRF4]</td>
			<td>Tavernarakis lab</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Maintain animals at 20 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>image analysis software</td>
			<td>Fiji</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>https://fiji.sc</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>KH2PO4</td>
			<td>EMD Millipore</td>
			<td>1,37,010</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>K2HPO4</td>
			<td>EMD Millipore</td>
			<td>1,04,873</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>LB liquid medium</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M9 buffer</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>M7506</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Microscope slides (75 x 25 x 1 mm)</td>
			<td>Marienfeld, Lauda-Koenigshofen</td>
			<td>10 006 12</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Microsoft Office 2011 Excel software package</td>
			<td>Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, USA</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>N2;Ex[pife-2GFP; pRF4]</td>
			<td>Tavernarakis lab</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Maintain animals at 20 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>N2;Ex[psod-3GFP; pRF4]</td>
			<td>Tavernarakis lab</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Maintain animals at 20 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>N2;Ex[punc-119GFP; pRF4]</td>
			<td>Tavernarakis lab</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Maintain animals at 20 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Na2HPO4</td>
			<td>EMD Millipore</td>
			<td>1,06,586</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Nematode growth medium (NGM) agar plates</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Nystatin stock solution</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>N3503</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Peptone</td>
			<td>BD, Bacto</td>
			<td>211677</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Phosphate buffer</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium chloride (NaCl)</td>
			<td>EMD Millipore</td>
			<td>1,06,40,41,000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Standard equipment for preparing agar plates (autoclave, Petri dishes, etc.)</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Standard equipment for maintaining worms (platinum wire pick, incubators, etc.).</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>statistical analysis software</td>
			<td>GraphPad Software Inc., San Diego, USA</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>GraphPad Prism software package</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Streptomycin</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S6501</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>UV Crosslinker</td>
			<td>Vilber Lourmat BIO-LINK BLX 254</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Worm pick</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

assessment of de novo protein synthesis rates in caenorhabditis elegans

Maintaining a healthy proteome is essential for cell and organismal homeostasis. Perturbation of the balance between protein translational control and degradation instigates a multitude of age-related diseases. Decline of proteostasis quality control mechanisms is a hallmark of ageing. Biochemical methods to detect de novo protein synthesis are still limited, have several disadvantages and cannot be performed in live cells or animals. Caenorhabditis elegans, being transparent and easily genetically modified, is an excellent model to monitor protein synthesis rates by using imaging techniques. Here, we introduce and describe a method to measure de novo protein synthesis in vivo utilizing fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). Transgenic animals expressing fluorescent proteins in specific cells or tissues are irradiated by a powerful light source resulting in fluorescence photobleaching. In turn, assessment of fluorescence recovery signifies new protein synthesis in cells and/or tissues of interest. Hence, the combination of transgenic nematodes, genetic and/or pharmacological interventions together with live imaging of protein synthesis rates can shed light on mechanisms mediating age-dependent proteostasis collapse.

Using the procedure presented here, wild type and mutant transgenic nematodes expressing the following somatic reporters, pife-2GFP, psod-3GFP and punc-119GFP, were used to assess protein synthesis rates according to the respective protocols. Particularly, wild type and ife-2 mutant worms expressing cytoplasmic GFP throughout their somatic tissues by using the ife-2 promoter were compared before, immediat...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Assessment of de novo Protein Synthesis Rates in Caenorhabditis elegans at JoVE.com

Assessment of de novo Protein Synthesis Rates in Caenorhabditis elegans

Here, we introduce and describe a nonradioactive and noninvasive method to assess de novo protein synthesis in vivo, utilizing the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). This method can be combined with genetic and/or pharmacological screens to identify novel modulators of protein synthesis.

Assessment of de novo Protein Synthesis Rates in Caenorhabditis elegans

Maintaining a healthy proteome is essential for cell and organismal homeostasis. Perturbation of the balance between protein translational control and ...

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