Detection and quantification of endoplasmic reticulum stress in living cells using the fluorescent compound, Thioflavin T

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays a central role in the co- and post-translational modification of many proteins. Disruption of these processes can lead to the accumulation of misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum - a condition known as endoplasmic reticulum stress. In recent years, the association of endoplasmic reticulum stress with a number of disease pathologies has increased interest in the study of this condition. Current methods to detect endoplasmic reticulum stress are indirect and retrospective. Here we describe a new method to detect and quantify endoplasmic reticulum stress in live cells using Thioflavin T (ThT), a small molecule that exhibits enhanced fluorescence when it binds to protein aggregates. We show that enhanced ThT-fluorescence correlates directly with established indicators of unfolded protein response activation. Furthermore, enhanced ThT-fluorescence can be detected in living cells within 20 min of application of an endoplasmic reticulum stress-inducing agent. ThT is capable of detecting endoplasmic reticulum stress induced by distinctly different conditions and compounds, in different cultured cell types as well as in mouse tissue samples. Pre-treatment with a potent endoplasmic reticulum stress-reducing agent, 4-phenylbutyric acid, mitigates the enhanced ThT signal. This new tool will be useful in future research investigating the role of protein misfolding in the development and/or progression of human diseases.