Visualizing Ligand Binding to a GPCR In Vivo Using NanoBRET

Diana C. Alcobia, Alexandra I. Ziegler, Alexander Kondrashov, Eleonora Comeo, Sarah Mistry, Barrie Kellam, Aeson Chang, Jeanette Woolard, Stephen J. Hill, Erica K. Sloan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The therapeutic action of a drug depends on its ability to engage with its molecular target in vivo. However, current drug discovery strategies quantify drug levels within organs rather than determining the binding of drugs directly to their specific molecular targets in vivo. This is a particular problem for assessing the therapeutic potential of drugs that target malignant tumors where access and binding may be impaired by disrupted vasculature and local hypoxia. Here we have used triple-negative human breast cancer cells expressing β2-adrenoceptors tagged with the bioluminescence protein NanoLuc to provide a bioluminescence resonance energy transfer approach to directly quantify ligand binding to a G protein-coupled receptor in vivo using a mouse model of breast cancer.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)280-288
Number of pages9
JournaliScience
Volume6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Aug 2018

Keywords

  • Biological Sciences Tools
  • Cancer
  • Molecular Interaction
  • Optical Imaging

Cite this