Chemogenetic timestamping for the precise tracing of cell history into protein assemblies

Abstract

Self-assembling protein fibers enable to record events in single cells, bypassing the need for long-term time-lapse imaging. Fluorescent marks introduced within the growing fiber at user-defined times provide timestamps, giving access to the temporal dynamics of the recorded event. Here, we introduce CATCHFiber, a single-color timestamping strategy for tracing cellular events with high temporal resolution into self-assembling protein fibers. Relying on chemically-induced dimerization to precisely and rapidly control the incorporation of fluorescent proteins into the fiber, CATCHFiber allows the introduction of short 30-min spaced timestamps, significantly increasing the precision of event timings compared to existing methods. This increase in temporal resolution expands the use of fiber-based recorders beyond transcriptional activity, allowing to trace the kinetics of faster processes such as protein degradation, protein neosynthesis and kinase activity, and to determine the timing of cell cycle steps.