Research Highlights
TURNING THE LIGHTS ON WITH FLUORESCENT PROTEINS
Rationally designing GFP for improved pH signalling and stability.
Feb. 1, 2024
Green fluorescent protein (GFP) is a small, highly stable, soluble protein originally isolated form jellyfish. Bio-engineered GFP proteins are a powerful tool in biochemistry and molecular biology which can be used to tag proteins and visualize cellular processes at the molecular level. Building new GFP variants which react to a variety of cellular conditions in the cell are important tools with a high economic value.
In this work, Shen et al. produce the protein "Lime" through targeted point mutations and rational changes of a commercially available pH sensitive GFP protein. Lime exhibited a higher fluorescence, pH sensitivity, and stability under oxidative conditions than the original protein. Their results provide a framework for GFP-based sensor design and targeting through a small subset of critical residues.
