Identification of proteomic landscape of drug-binding proteins in live cells by proximity-dependent target ID

Direct identification of the proteins targeted by small molecules can provide clues for disease diagnosis, prevention, and drug development. Despite concentrated attempts, there are still technical limitations associated with the elucidation of direct interactors. Herein, we report a target-ID system called proximity-based compound-binding protein identification (PROCID), which combines our direct analysis workflow of proximity-labeled proteins (Spot-ID) with the HaloTag system to efficiently identify the dynamic proteomic landscape of drug-binding proteins. We successfully identified well-known dasatinib-binding proteins (ABL1, ABL2) and confirmed the unapproved dasatinib-binding kinases (e.g., BTK and CSK) in a live chronic myeloid leukemia cell line. PROCID also identified the DNA helicase protein SMARCA2 as a dasatinib-binding protein, and the ATPase domain was confirmed to be the binding site of dasatinib using a proximity ligation assay (PLA) and in cellulo biotinylation assay. PROCID thus provides a robust method to identify unknown drug-interacting proteins in live cells that expedites the mode of action of the drug.

Automated summary

Direct identification of drug-target proteins can provide valuable insights for disease diagnosis, prevention, and drug development. In this study, researchers developed a target-ID system called PROCID, which combines a direct analysis workflow of proximity-labeled proteins with the HaloTag system. They successfully identified known and unknown drug-interacting proteins in live cells, providing a robust method to explore the mode of action of drugs.