Cathodoluminescence of green fluorescent protein exhibits the redshifted spectrum and the robustness.

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its variants are an essential tool for visualizing functional units in biomaterials. This is achieved by the fascinating optical properties of them. Here, we report novel optical properties of enhanced GFP (EGFP), which is one of widely used engineered variants of the wild-type GFP.

Cathodoluminescence and Electron-Induced Fluorescence Enhancement of Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein.

Becaues the spatial resolution of fluorescence microscopy is not high enough to study the molecular level of relationship between the structure and function of biological specimens, correlative light and electron microscopy has been used for this purpose. Another possibility for a high-resolution light microscopy is cathodoluminescence microscopy. Here, we report a new phenomenon, the electron-induced activation of luminescence (cathodoluminescence) and electron-enhanced fluorescence for the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP).