Self-complementing split fluorescent proteins (FPs) have been widely used for protein labeling, visualization of subcellular protein localization, and detection of cell–cell contact. To expand this toolset, we have developed a screening strategy for the direct engineering of self-complementing split FPs. Via this strategy, we have generated a yellow–green split-mNeonGreen2_1–10/11 that improves the ratio of complemented signal to the background of FP_1–10-expressing cells compared to the commonly used split GFP_1–10/11; as well as a 10-fold brighter red-colored split-sfCherry2_1–10/11. Based on split sfCherry2, we have engineered a photoactivatable variant that enables single-molecule localization-based super-resolution microscopy. We have demonstrated dual-color endogenous protein tagging with sfCherry2₁₁ and GFP₁₁, revealing that endoplasmic reticulum translocon complex Sec61B has reduced abundance in certain peripheral tubules. These new split FPs not only offer multiple colors for imaging interaction networks of endogenous proteins, but also hold the potential to provide orthogonal handles for biochemical isolation of native protein complexes.

The promise of cell therapy for repair and restoration of damaged tissues or organs relies on administration of large dose of cells whose healing benefits are still limited and sometimes irreproducible due to uncontrollable cell loss and death at lesion sites. Using a large amount of therapeutic cells increases the costs for cell processing and the risks of side effects. Optimal cell delivery strategies are therefore in urgent need to enhance the specificity, efficacy, and reproducibility of cell therapy leading to minimized cell dosage and side effects. Here, we addressed this unmet need by developing injectable 3D microscale cellular niches (microniches) based on biodegradable gelatin microcryogels (GMs). The microniches are constituted by in vitro priming human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) seeded within GMs resulting in tissue-like ensembles with enriched extracellular matrices and enhanced cell–cell interactions. The primed 3D microniches facilitated cell protection from mechanical insults during injection and in vivo cell retention, survival, and ultimate therapeutic functions in treatment of critical limb ischemia (CLI) in mouse models compared with free cell-based therapy. In particular, 3D microniche-based therapy with 10 ⁵ hMSCs realized better ischemic limb salvage than treatment with 10 ⁶ free-injected hMSCs, the minimum dosage with therapeutic effects for treating CLI in literature. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first convincing demonstration of injectable and primed cell delivery strategy realizing superior therapeutic efficacy for treating CLI with the lowest cell dosage in mouse models. This study offers a widely applicable cell delivery platform technology to boost the healing power of cell regenerative therapy.

Self-associating split fluorescent proteins (FPs) are split FPs whose two fragments spontaneously associate to form a functional FP. They have been widely used for labeling proteins, scaffolding protein assembly and detecting cell-cell contacts. Recently developments have expanded the palette of self-associating split FPs beyond the original split GFP_1-10/11. However, these new ones have suffered from suboptimal fluorescence signal after complementation. Here, by investigating the complementation process, we have demonstrated two approaches to improve split FPs: assistance through SpyTag/SpyCatcher interaction and directed evolution. The latter has yielded two split sfCherry3 variants with substantially enhanced overall brightness, facilitating the tagging of endogenous proteins by gene editing. Based on sfCherry3, we have further developed a new red-colored trans-synaptic marker called Neuroligin-1 sfCherry3 Linker Across Synaptic Partners (NLG-1 CLASP) for multiplexed visualization of neuronal synapses in living C. elegans, demonstrating its broad applications.