Quantitative and time-resolved monitoring of organelle and protein delivery to the lysosome with a tandem fluorescent Halo-GFP reporter

Lysosomal degradative compartments hydrolyze macromolecules to generate basic building blocks that fuel metabolic pathways in our cells. They also remove misfolded proteins and control size, function, and number of cytoplasmic organelles via constitutive and regulated autophagy. These catabolic processes attract interest because their defective functioning is linked to human disease and their molecular components are promising pharmacologic targets. The capacity to quantitatively assess them is highly sought-after. Here we present a tandem-fluorescent reporter consisting of a HaloTag-GFP chimera appended at the C- or at the N-terminus of select polypeptides to monitor protein and organelle delivery to the lysosomal compartment. The Halo-GFP changes color on fluorescent pulse with cell-permeable HaloTag ligands and, again, on delivery to acidic, degradative lysosomal compartments, where the fluorescent ligand-associated HaloTag is relatively stable, whereas the GFP portion is not, as testified by loss of the green fluorescence and generation of a protease-resistant, fluorescent HaloTag fragment. The Halo-GFP tandem fluorescent reporter presented in our study allows quantitative and, crucially, time-resolved analyses of protein and organelle transport to the lysosomal compartment by high resolution confocal laser scanning microscopy, antibody-free electrophoretic techniques and flow cytometry.