Quantitative
single molecule localization microscopy (qSMLM) is
a powerful approach to study in situ protein organization. However,
uncertainty regarding the photophysical properties of fluorescent
reporters can bias the interpretation of detected localizations and
subsequent quantification. Furthermore, strategies to efficiently
detect endogenous proteins are often constrained by label heterogeneity
and reporter size. Here, a new surface assay for molecular isolation
(SAMI) was developed for qSMLM and used to characterize photophysical
properties of fluorescent proteins and dyes. SAMI-qSMLM afforded robust
quantification. To efficiently detect endogenous proteins, we used
fluorescent ligands that bind to a specific site on engineered antibody
fragments. Both the density and nano-organization of membrane-bound
epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR, HER2, and HER3) were determined
by a combination of SAMI, antibody engineering, and pair-correlation
analysis. In breast cancer cell lines, we detected distinct differences
in receptor density and nano-organization upon treatment with therapeutic
agents. This new platform can improve molecular quantification and
can be developed to study the local protein environment of intact
cells.