Extended Stokes shift in fluorescent proteins: chromophore-protein interactions in a near-infrared TagRFP675 variant.

Most GFP-like fluorescent proteins exhibit small Stokes shifts (10-45 nm) due to rigidity of the chromophore environment that excludes non-fluorescent relaxation to a ground state. An unusual near-infrared derivative of the red fluorescent protein mKate, named TagRFP675, exhibits the Stokes shift, which is 30 nm extended comparing to that of the parental protein. In physiological conditions, TagRFP675 absorbs at 598 nm and emits at 675 nm that makes it the most red-shifted protein of the GFP-like protein family.

New insight in protein-ligand interactions. 2. Stability and properties of two mutant forms of the D-galactose/D-glucose-binding protein from E. coli.

The galactose/glucose-binding protein from E. coli (GGBP) is a 32 kDa protein possessing the typical two-domains structure of the ligand-binding proteins family. GGBP is characterized by low dissociation constant values with respect to glucose binding, displaying an affinity constant for glucose in micromolar range.

Far-red fluorescent protein excitable with red lasers for flow cytometry and superresolution STED nanoscopy.

Far-red fluorescent proteins are required for deep-tissue and whole-animal imaging and multicolor labeling in the red wavelength range, as well as probes excitable with standard red lasers in flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. Rapidly evolving superresolution microscopy based on the stimulated emission depletion approach also demands genetically encoded monomeric probes to tag intracellular proteins at the molecular level. Based on the monomeric mKate variant, we have developed a far-red TagRFP657 protein with excitation/emission maxima at 611/657 nm.

Structural characterization of acylimine-containing blue and red chromophores in mTagBFP and TagRFP fluorescent proteins.

We determined the 2.2 A crystal structures of the red fluorescent protein TagRFP and its derivative, the blue fluorescent protein mTagBFP. The crystallographic analysis is consistent with a model in which TagRFP has the trans coplanar anionic chromophore with the conjugated pi-electron system, similar to that of DsRed-like chromophores.

Rotational order-disorder structure of fluorescent protein FP480.

In the last decade, advances in instrumentation and software development have made crystallography a powerful tool in structural biology. Using this method, structural information can now be acquired from pathological crystals that would have been abandoned in earlier times. In this paper, the order-disorder (OD) structure of fluorescent protein FP480 is discussed.

Monomeric fluorescent timers that change color from blue to red report on cellular trafficking.

Based on the mechanism for chromophore formation in red fluorescent proteins, we developed three mCherry-derived monomeric variants, called fluorescent timers (FTs), that change their fluorescence from the blue to red over time. These variants exhibit distinctive fast, medium and slow blue-to-red chromophore maturation rates that depend on the temperature. At 37 degrees C, the maxima of the blue fluorescence are observed at 0.