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  • PharmacoSTORM nanoscale pha...
    Prokop, Susanne; Ábrányi-Balogh, Péter; Barti, Benjámin; Vámosi, Márton; Zöldi, Miklós; Barna, László; Urbán, Gabriella M; Tóth, András Dávid; Dudok, Barna; Egyed, Attila; Deng, Hui; Leggio, Gian Marco; Hunyady, László; van der Stelt, Mario; Keserű, György M; Katona, István

    Nature communications, 11/2021, Volume: 12, Issue: 1
    Journal Article

    Immunolabeling and autoradiography have traditionally been applied as the methods-of-choice to visualize and collect molecular information about physiological and pathological processes. Here, we introduce PharmacoSTORM super-resolution imaging that combines the complementary advantages of these approaches and enables cell-type- and compartment-specific nanoscale molecular measurements. We exploited rational chemical design for fluorophore-tagged high-affinity receptor ligands and an enzyme inhibitor; and demonstrated broad PharmacoSTORM applicability for three protein classes and for cariprazine, a clinically approved antipsychotic and antidepressant drug. Because the neurobiological substrate of cariprazine has remained elusive, we took advantage of PharmacoSTORM to provide in vivo evidence that cariprazine predominantly binds to D dopamine receptors on Islands of Calleja granule cell axons but avoids dopaminergic terminals. These findings show that PharmacoSTORM helps to quantify drug-target interaction sites at the nanoscale level in a cell-type- and subcellular context-dependent manner and within complex tissue preparations. Moreover, the results highlight the underappreciated neuropsychiatric significance of the Islands of Calleja in the ventral forebrain.