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Stochasticity is a fundamental and unavoidable aspect of gene expression and gives rise to cell-cell heterogeneity1, both at the level of transcripts and proteins2,3. Quantifying the variability between cells under well-defined conditions offers a unique window into the basic processes that underlie gene expression and its regulation. One important source of cell-cell heterogeneity in bacteria takes place at the transcriptional level. Transcript numbers vary not only due to the stochasticity of transcription, but also to post-transcriptional processes such as regulation by small RNAs and RNAases2. One way of directly accessing this heterogeneity in a quantitative fashion is by fluorescently tagging individual transcripts of a given gene in smFISH. This methodology allows the detection and subcellular localization of particular RNA molecules in fixed, individual bacterial cells4. mRNAs are hybridized with a set of fluorescently-labeled ~20 base-long oligonucleotides that are designed to bind selectively to transcripts of interest5,6. Multiple labeling ensures detection above background fluorescence, and individual mRNA molecules appear as diffraction-limited spots under a fluorescence microscope7 (see Figure 1). There are other approaches for labeling mRNA molecules, in which the complementary oligomer probes carry conjugated haptens (e.g., biotin or digoxigenin) that are detected using secondary fluorescently-labeled reporter techniques8.
There are other methods that provide quantitative information about transcripts, in addition to smFISH. Some, such as the Northern blot or quantitative PCR, probe the bulk and thus can measure neither the number of mRNA copies nor their position in individual cells. Therefore these methods are not suitable to quantify cell-to-cell variability. A recent image-based technique that allows for the quantification of both the copy number of RNAs within cells as well as their intracellular location, called multiplexed error-robust fluorescence in situ hybridization (MERFISH) has been developed. MERFISH is based on the assignment of a unique barcode consisting of a defined combination from a fixed number of fluorescently-labeled oligonucleotide probes. These barcodes are read out in sequential rounds of smFISH measurements, with photobleaching following each round of hybridization, thereby increasing throughput by two orders of magnitude9,10. This technique necessitates an automated fluid handling system and the proper design of the probe set.
The combination of multiple fluorescence labeling of individual transcripts, together with novel super-resolution techniques such as stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM)11, enables a ten-fold increase in resolution in the subcellular localization of transcripts. In STORM, a suitable combination of fluorescent probes and imaging buffer allows for multiple cycles of fluorescence emission per probe molecule (blinking). STORM may also be used to image the E. coli transcriptome and observe genome-wide spatial organization of RNA, by labeling simultaneously all the transcripts of interest12.
All the single-cell methods reviewed above are based on imaging transcripts in fixed cells. Hence, they do not provide any information regarding the kinetic properties of transcripts within cells. To follow transcripts in live cells13, mRNAs can be labeled by the fusion of the gene of interest to an array of binding sites. These latter are then recognized by an RNA-binding protein, such as the bacteriophage MS2 coat protein, which is fused to a fluorescent protein such as the green fluorescent protein (GFP)10,14,15.
Here we describe a method for labeling individual mRNAs with a set of fluorescently-labeled DNA probes, for use in smFISH experiments, in particular in E. coli. Furthermore, we show that the same labeling scheme may be used for STORM measurements with minor modifications.