A unified photosensitizer platform for in situ DNA, RNA, and protein directed proximity labeling

POCA photocatalytic proximity labeling enables a unified, photosensitizer-based workflow to profile proximal proteomes around protein, RNA, and DNA targets in fixed cells.

• Why it matters: Spatial organization is often measured using only one biomolecular class at a time, limiting integrated views of how proteins, RNA, and DNA neighborhoods relate within the same nuclear compartments.
• What they did: POCA uses standard immunofluorescence or in situ hybridization to localize organic fluorophore photosensitizers to intracellular targets in fixed cells, without genetic engineering, with minimal cellular input and fluorescence-based on-target confirmation.
• The result: Applied to nuclear pore complex, nucleolus, nuclear speckles, telomeres, and pericentromeric heterochromatin, POCA resolves shared and distinct proximal proteomes from orthogonal protein and RNA perspectives within the same nuclear compartment.

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