Real-time measurement in living cells of insulin-like growth factor activity using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and -II function in normal physiology to control growth, development, and differentiation, but are also important in pathophysiological conditions, particularly in cancer. The biological effects of the IGFs are mediated by the IGF-I receptor (IGFR), a covalent homodimer composed of two alpha and two beta chains, similar in structure to the insulin receptor (IR). To allow measurement of the stimulation of IGFR in living cells, we developed an assay based on bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) between a donor molecule, Renilla luciferase, and an acceptor fluorophore, enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP). Initial attempts based on fusion of the luciferase to IGFR, and EYFP to IGFR, or to downstream signaling molecules, insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS1) or protein tyrosine phosphatases-1B (PTP-1B), failed. However, similar experiments with IR, carried our in parallel, proved successful. We therefore, constructed assays based on chimeric IGFR/IR proteins, in which the ligand binding site was derived from IGFR. With the most efficient assay, in which the luciferase is fused to a chimeric receptor with the entire intracellular portion derived from IR, and EYFP fused to PTP-1B, IGF activity was measured specifically with sensitivity similar to the corresponding assay for insulin, based on IR. The established system allows efficient evaluation of candidate ligand- or receptor-directed molecules for the modulation of IGF activities. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a set of inhibitory IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) or activating IGFBP-specific proteinases, unique to the IGF system, may serve as potential targets. In addition to screening, real-time measurement of IGFR stimulation may be important in efforts to understand the kinetics of receptor stimulation, in particular differences between IGFR and IR.