Dual-Color Expansion Microscopy of Membrane Proteins Using Bioorthogonal Labeling.

Abstract

With recent advances in fluorescence microscopy, resolution is often limited by the size of the label and the resulting linkage error, rather than the microscope itself. Site-specific incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) combined with bioorthogonal click chemistry provides a powerful tool for fluorescent protein labeling, overcoming the spatial uncertainty inherent to antibody-based probes. Here, we present a method to further improve labeling precision by combining ncAA labeling with expansion microscopy (ExM) for dual-color super-resolution imaging. After optimizing labeling procedures and fluorophore selection, we visualize and resolve the nanoscale distribution of Na,K-ATPase α₁ and β₁ subunits in expanded HEK 293T cells. We validate our approach by super-resolution STED imaging of the ncAA labeled β₁ subunit in unexpanded cells. This work presents a strong framework for multiplexed, high-resolution imaging, suggesting that ncAA labeling combined with ExM enables biological imaging at the nanometer scale.