A promiscuous biotin ligase fusion protein identifies proximal and interacting proteins in mammalian cells

We have developed a new technique for proximity-dependent labeling of proteins in eukaryotic cells. Named BiolD for proximity-dependent biotin identification, this approach is based on fusion of a promiscuous Escherichia coli biotin protein ligase to a targeting protein. BiolD features proximity-dependent biotinylation of proteins that are near-neighbors of the fusion protein. Biotinylated proteins may be isolated by affinity capture and identified by mass spectrometry. We apply BiolD to lamin-A (LaA), a well-characterized intermediate filament protein that is a constituent of the nuclear lamina, an important structural element of the nuclear envelope (NE). We identify multiple proteins that associate with and/or are proximate to LaA in vivo. The most abundant of these include known interactors of LaA that are localized to the NE, as well as a new NE-associated protein named SLAP75. Our results suggest BiolD is a useful and generally applicable method to screen for both interacting and neighboring proteins in their native cellular environment.