Miller Group reports new screening method for biological interactions
The Miller group recently reported a versatile method for studying protein function in the journal iScience. Their group used lanthanide-based FRET (LRET) biosensors to enable microscopic imaging or high throughput screening of protein-protein interactions directly in living mammalian cells. The cells are genetically modified to express engineered proteins that bind to terbium complexes. When two select proteins interact, the modified cells emit a unique luminescent signal that can be detected with high sensitivity. The LRET biosensor method can be used to resolve biological mechanisms of cell signaling or screen for drugs that inhibit protein interactions implicated in disease.