Tsien found precisely how GFP's structure produces the observed green fluorescence, and succeeded in modifying the structure to generate molecules that emit light at slightly different wavelengths, which gave tags of different colors.
Fluorescent proteins are very versatile and are being used in many areas, such as microbiology, biotechnology, physiology, environmental engineering, development, etc. They can, for example, illuminate growing cancer tumours; show the development of Alzheimer's disease, or detect arsenic traces in water.
Due to its size and ease of use, GFP and other fluorescent proteins have become a mainstay in molecular biology. Scientists can easily utilize GFP-containing plasmids as a means to many functional ends. And come back next week when we'll be featuring a guest blog post from Gal Haimovich of greenfluorescentblog. Gal will share his list of 10 things to keep in mind when choosing the best fluorescent protein to use in your upcoming experiments.
In the meantime, if you haven't checked out Gal's blog, you should! He's got great articles and insight on the newest tools and techniques in fluorescent microscopy. Note: A. Max Juchheim contributed to the writing of this article.
Topics: Fluorescent Proteins , Fluorescent Proteins Add Comment. Addgene is a nonprofit plasmid repository. We archive and distribute high quality plasmids from your colleagues.
Why Green Fluorescent Protein? Phillips, M. Prolonged reduction of high blood pressure with an in vivo, non-pathogenic, adeno-associated viral vector delivery of AT1-R mRNA antisense. Hypertension 29 : — Wilson, L. A Identification of recombmant baculoviruses using green fluorescent protein as a selectable marker. Biotechniques 22 : — Takada, T. Selective production of transgenic mice using green fluorescent protein. Nature Biotechnology 15 : — Okabe, M. Green mice as a source of ubiquitous green cells.
Chishima, T. Wang, X. Cancer invasion and micrornetastasis visualized in live tissue by green fluorescent protein expression.
Cancer Research 57 : — Sawin, K. Identification of fission yeast nuclear markers using random polypeptide fusions with green fluorescent protein. USA 93 : — Dell'Arciprete, R. High-efficiency expression gene cloning by flow cytometry.
Dorsky, D. Detection of HIV-1 infection with a green fluorescent protein reporter system. Immune Defic. Gervaix, A. A new reporter cell line to monitor HIV infection and drug susceptibility in vitro.
Htun, H. Visualization of glu-cocorticoid receptor translocation and intranuclear organization in living cells with a green fluorescent protein chimera. Romoser, V. Connolly, J. Associative learning disrupted by impaired Gs signaling in Drosophila mushroom bodies.
Download references. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. Reprints and Permissions. Applications of the green fluorescent protein in cell biology and biotechnology.
Nat Biotechnol 15, — Download citation. Why PDB? PDB builds introductory materials to help beginners get started in the subject "", as in an entry level course as well as resources for extended learning. Toggle navigation PDB Educational portal of. Molecule of the Month. The green fluorescent protein, shown here from PDB entry 1gfl , is found in a jellyfish that lives in the cold waters of the north Pacific. The jellyfish contains a bioluminescent protein-- aequorin--that emits blue light.
The green fluorescent protein converts this light to green light, which is what we actually see when the jellyfish lights up.
Solutions of purified GFP look yellow under typical room lights, but when taken outdoors in sunlight, they glow with a bright green color. The protein absorbs ultraviolet light from the sunlight, and then emits it as lower-energy green light. You might be saying: who cares about this obscure little green protein from a jellyfish? It turns out that GFP is amazingly useful in scientific research, because it allows us to look directly into the inner workings of cells.
It is easy to find out where GFP is at any given time: you just have to shine ultraviolet light, and any GFP will glow bright green. So here is the trick: you attach the GFP to any object that you are interested in watching. For instance, you can attach it to a virus. Then, as the virus spreads through the host, you can watch the spread by following the green glow. Or, you can attach it to a protein, and watch through the microscope as it moves around inside cells.
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