Why is gfp useful in biological research

To find out exactly which neurons, they used recGFP: by expressing one GFP polypeptide from the sto-6 promoter and the other polypeptide from the promoters of various genes for which the expression patterns were known, the authors tracked down the expression of sto-6 to the excitatory motor neurons. Chalfie and colleagues tested other uses for recGFP, such as labelling cell constituents in a restricted group of cells in vivo.

And they propose further possibilities — demonstrating cell fusion or viral infection, for instance, in C. The future of GFP looks bright indeed. Zhang, S. Combinatorial marking of cells and organelles with reconstituted fluorescent proteins. Cell , — Download references. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. Martin Chalfie's laboratory. Reprints and Permissions. Tromans, A. Bright future for GFP.

Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 5, Download citation. In , 30 years after its discovery, Prasher et al. Two years later, Chalfie et al. Soon thereafter, Roger Tsien's laboratory engineered native GFP to become brighter, more photostable and excitable at a wavelength that matched that of conventional microscope filter sets, increasing its practical usability as summarized in his review. The next breakthrough in GFP technology came with the development of GFP variants to produce blue, cyan and yellow fluorescent proteins also described in Tsien's review , thus enabling imaging experiments that could follow multiple tagged proteins in cells and organisms.

Chalfie, M. Green fluorescent protein as a marker for gene expression. Science , — Shimomura, O. Morise, H. Intermolecular energy transfer in the bioluminescent system of Aequorea. Biochemistry 13 , — Prasher, D.

Primary structure of the Aequorea victoria green-fluorescent protein. Gene , — Tsien, R. The green fluorescent protein. Presley, John F. Last reviewed: December A protein produced by the bioluminescent jellyfish Aequorea victoria that fluoresces in the lower green portion of the visible spectrum.

The gene for green fluorescent protein GFP has been isolated, and the protein has been extensively characterized biochemically and found useful in biological research see illustration. After synthesis of GFP, three of its amino acids undergo a self-catalyzed reaction that produces an internal fluorophore fluorescent molecule.