ASAP-ID: Proximity labelling with small tags

Abstract

Biotinylation-based proximity labelling methods are valuable for discovering protein-protein interactions within cellular systems. However, one limitation of these approaches is that most require fusing the target protein with the enzyme that biotinylates nearby proteins (i.e., TurboID or APEX2), which risks sterically disrupting the proteins native function. Here, we present a method designed to reduce the steric impact of these fusions and offer greater flexibility in labelling modalities. The method, Antibody and Small-tag Assembly on Proteins for Interaction Detection (ASAP-ID), involves a bipartite system. Target proteins are fused to a small peptide antigen that recruits TurboID or APEX2 fused to an antibody directed to the antigen. Using two different antigen/antibody systems (SunTag and MoonTag), we show that ASAP-ID can specifically label human Lamin A in cells. The method works when the target protein and nanobody are co-expressed together in cis (ASAP-IDIC). We also demonstrate that the approach works when the antibody fusion is added in trans to fixed cells post-expression (ASAP-IDIT). ASAP-IDIT identified more than 448 known and previously undescribed interactors of lamin. We further used ASAP-IDIT to study how ALS-mutant profilin 1 affected its interactome. The method identified proteins involved in protein quality control that correlated with aggregation propensity. Moreover, the different mutants showed variation in the cellular location where aggregates formed. ASAP-IDIT revealed preferences for mitochondrial proteins for the two profilin mutants that tend to aggregate in the cytoplasm, C71G and M114T, and nuclear proteins for a mutant more prone to nuclear aggregation. These findings position ASAP-ID as a powerful addition to the proximity labelling toolkit, capable of probing subtle differences in interactomes in a less invasive manner.