Molecular imaging of retinoic acids in live cells using single-chain bioluminescence probes

Retinoic acid (RA) is a key metabolite necessary for embryonic development and differentiation in vertebrates. We demonstrate the utility of genetically encoded, ligand-activatable single-chain bioluminescence probes for detecting RAs from different biological sources. We examined 13 different molecular designs to identify an efficient single-chain probe that can quantify RA with significant sensitivity. The optimal probe consisted of four components: the N- and C-terminal fragments of artificial luciferase variant-16 (ALuc16), the ligand binding domain of retinoic acid receptor α (RARα LBD), and an LXXLL interaction motif. This probe showed a 5.2-fold greater bioluminescence intensity in response to RA when compared to the vehicle control in live mammalian cells. The probe was highly selective to all-trans-RA (at-RA), and highly sensitive in determining at-RA levels in cells derived from tumor xenografts created using MDA-MB-231 cells engineered to stably express the probe. We also detected RA levels in ...