An artificial six-zinc finger peptide with polyarginine linker: Selective binding to the discontinuous DNA sequences

An arginine-rich nuclear localization signal (ArgiNLS) strategy for streamlined image segmentation of single cells

High-throughput volumetric fluorescent microscopy pipelines can spatially integrate whole-brain structure and function at the foundational level of single cells. However, conventional fluorescent protein (FP) modifications used to discriminate single cells possess limited efficacy or are detrimental to cellular health. Here, we introduce a synthetic and nondeleterious nuclear localization signal (NLS) tag strategy, called "Arginine-rich NLS" (ArgiNLS), that optimizes genetic labeling and downstream image segmentation of single cells by restricting FP localization near-exclusively in the nucleus through a poly-arginine mechanism. A single N-terminal ArgiNLS tag provides modular nuclear restriction consistently across spectrally separate FP variants. ArgiNLS performance in vivo displays functional conservation across major cortical cell classes and in response to both local and systemic brain-wide AAV administration. Crucially, the high signal-to-noise ratio afforded by ArgiNLS enhances machine learning-automated segmentation of single cells due to rapid classifier training and enrichment of labeled cell detection within 2D brain sections or 3D volumetric whole-brain image datasets, derived from both staining-amplified and native signal. This genetic strategy provides a simple and flexible basis for precise image segmentation of genetically labeled single cells at scale and paired with behavioral procedures.

An arginine-rich nuclear localization signal (ArgiNLS) strategy for streamlined image segmentation of single-cells

High-throughput volumetric fluorescent microscopy pipelines can spatially integrate whole-brain structure and function at the foundational level of single-cells. However, conventional fluorescent protein (FP) modifications used to discriminate single-cells possess limited efficacy or are detrimental to cellular health. Here, we introduce a synthetic and non-deleterious nuclear localization signal (NLS) tag strategy, called 'Arginine-rich NLS' (ArgiNLS), that optimizes genetic labeling and downstream image segmentation of single-cells by restricting FP localization near-exclusively in the nucleus through a poly-arginine mechanism. A single N-terminal ArgiNLS tag provides modular nuclear restriction consistently across spectrally separate FP variants. ArgiNLS performance in vivo displays functional conservation across major cortical cell classes, and in response to both local and systemic brain wide AAV administration. Crucially, the high signal-to-noise ratio afforded by ArgiNLS enhances ML-automated segmentation of single-cells due to rapid classifier training and enrichment of labeled cell detection within 2D brain sections or 3D volumetric whole-brain image datasets, derived from both staining-amplified and native signal. This genetic strategy provides a simple and flexible basis for precise image segmentation of genetically labeled single-cells at scale and paired with behavioral procedures.

The past, present, and future of artificial zinc finger proteins: design strategies and chemical and biological applications

Zinc finger proteins are abundant in the human proteome and are responsible for a variety of functions. The domains that constitute zinc finger proteins are compact spherical structures, each comprising approximately 30 amino acid residues, but they also have precise molecular factor functions: zinc binding and DNA recognition. Due to the biological importance of zinc finger proteins and their unique structural and functional properties, many artificial zinc finger proteins have been created and are expected to improve their functions and biological applications. In this study, we review previous studies on the redesign and application of artificial zinc finger proteins, focusing on the experimental results obtained by our research group. In addition, we systematically review various design strategies used to construct artificial zinc finger proteins and discuss in detail their potential biological applications, including gene editing. This review will provide relevant information to researchers involved or interested in the field of artificial zinc finger proteins as a potential new treatment for various diseases.

[Design of artificial DNA binding proteins toward control and elucidation of cellular functions]

An artificial transcription factor that can regulate the expression of specific genes at a desired time is very useful for research in chemical biology, cell biology, and future gene therapy. A C2H2 zinc finger motif, one of zinc-containing proteins, is known as the most ubiquitous DNA binding motif. The motif is attractive for designing artificial transcription factors with desired DNA binding specificities because of its characteristic DNA binding properties: (1) recognition of 3 bp per motif, (2) tandemly connected modular structure, and (3) binding to non-palindrome sequences as a monomer. Taking advantage of these properties, artificial DNA binding proteins with new DNA binding characteristics have been designed. By changing the linker region between two 3-zinc finger domains, artificial 6-zinc finger proteins were developed and shown to skip DNA sequences. Zinc-responsive transcription factors were created by altering one of the zinc ligands. An artificial zinc finger transcription factor targeting a core clock gene induced phase shifts of the cellular "circadian rhythm". Herein, I will summarize creation and function of the above-mentioned artificial zinc finger-type DNA binding proteins and transcription factors.

New redesigned zinc-finger proteins: design strategy and its application

The design of DNA-binding proteins for the specific control of the gene expression is one of the big challenges for several research laboratories in the post-genomic era. An artificial transcription factor with the desired DNA binding specificity could work as a powerful tool and drug to regulate the target gene. The zinc-finger proteins, which typically contain many fingers linked in a tandem fashion, are some of the most intensively studied DNA-binding proteins. In particular, the Cys(2)His(2)-type zinc finger is one of the most common DNA-binding motifs in eukaryotes. A simple mode of DNA recognition by the Cys(2)His(2)-type zinc-finger domain provides an ideal framework for designing proteins with new functions. Our laboratory has utilized several design strategies to create new zinc-finger peptides/proteins by redesigning the Cys(2)His(2)-type zinc-finger motif. This review focuses on the aspects of design strategies, mainly from our recent results, for the creation of artificial zinc-finger proteins, and discusses the possible application of zinc-finger technology for gene regulation and gene therapy.