Boosting the toolbox for live imaging of translation

Live imaging of translation based on tag recognition by a single chain antibody is a powerful technique to assess translation regulation in living cells. However, especially in a multicellular organism, this approach is challenging and requires optimization in terms of expression level and detection sensitivity of the system. Here, we improved existing fluorescent tools and developed new ones to image and quantify nascent translation in the living Drosophila embryo and in mammalian cells. We tested and characterized five different Green Fluorescent Protein variants fused to the single chain fragment variable (scFv) and uncover photobleaching, aggregation and intensity disparities. Using different strengths of germline and somatic drivers, we determined that the availability of the scFv is critical in order to detect translation throughout development. We introduced a new translation imaging method based on a nanobody/tag system named ALFA-array, allowing the sensitive and simultaneous detection of the translation of several distinct mRNA species. Finally, we developed a largely improved RNA imaging system based on an MCP-tdStaygold fusion.