Technique aids study of cell communication
24 Sep 2012
A method for analysing proteins has enabled scientists to tune in to cells’ conversations, regardless of background noise.
Devised by scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the method provides a new approach for studying the proteins cells release to communicate with each other.
The technique developed by Jeroen Krijgsveld and colleagues allows scientists to distinguish proteins secreted by the cells from those in their food.
As they can measure exactly how much of each protein the cells have released, at two hour intervals, scientists can see how secretion changes over time.
The EMBL scientists coax cells into using an artificial amino acid instead of the methionine they would normally employ as one of the building blocks for their proteins.
The researchers can then fish out the proteins released by the cells from the surrounding serum, using a technique called click chemistry.
This does away with the need to starve cells, which was so far the most reliable way of being sure you were not ’counting’ proteins from the serum.
The advantage of not having to starve cells and being able to follow changes over time enabled Krijgsveld and colleagues to follow, for the first time, how white blood cells called macrophages - which can’t be grown without serum - react to a component of bacteria to kick off a rapid immune response.
“There’s much more for the community to explore,” Krijgsveld said. “Our method could be used to watch how cells react to drug treatments; or to search for biomarkers, like the proteins cancer cells release that help them invade tissues; or to see how secretion changes if cells are grown in 3D instead of on a regular Petri dish. We’ve really seen a great deal of interest already.”
As well as continuing to investigate the intricacies of secretion, Krijgsveld’s lab now plan to use their new approach to study how cancer cells respond to drugs.
