We narrowed to 400 results for: pho;
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TypeBlog Post...brightness, photostability, and most importantly, a photoswitching ability. This photoswitching refers to...exciting the fluorophore at peak wavelength can also decrease the rate of photobleaching. Interaction ...function in live cells. Fluorophore properties: The specific properties of the fluorophore, such as excitation...fluorescence quantum yield, the ratio of photons absorbed over the photons emitted. For example, DAPI is much...Ghods, R. (n.d.). Comparison of the Photobleaching and Photostability Traits of Alexa Fluor 568-and Fluorescein...ligands Figure 1: Example structures of fluorophores, fluorescent dyes, and fluorescent ligands. ...refers to the emission of light by a substance (fluorophore) that has absorbed light or electromagnetic radiation...
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Which Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques is Best for Me?
TypeBlog Post...image can be acquired more quickly. 2-Photon Microscopy 2-Photon Microscopy attempts to solve two drawbacks... leads to more rapid photobleaching and a reduction in signal intensity. 2-Photon microscopes restrict...can lead to photobleaching when acquiring multiple images over a large axial range. 2-photon imaging, which...University. No matter whether you are a sports photographer at the Super Bowl, a medical technologist taking...background. In addition to this, the use of multiple fluorophores can add a second layer of contrast, color contrast...further exploit the unique characteristics of fluorophores to block out of focus fluorescence from reaching...large number of optical slices are acquired all fluorophores throughout the sample are constantly exposed... -
Tips for Using FRET in Your Experiments
TypeBlog Post...non-radiatively from an excited molecular fluorophore (the donor) to another fluorophore (the acceptor) by means of ...the two fluorophores used are in close vicinity. Thus, the distance between the two fluorophores and their...yield of the donor (number of emitted photons per absorbed photons) and the extinction coefficient of the... of a fluorophore pair, donor:acceptor stoichiometry, and cross-talk between the two fluorophore colours...microscopy (FLIM) method. Acceptor photobleaching method The acceptor photobleaching method is simple but limited...dipole-dipole coupling." The emission of the acceptor fluorophore can be measured using microscopy techniques. ...interactions within living cells. By coupling fluorophores to proteins, pioneers of this technique were... -
Fluorescent Proteins 101: Introduction to FRET
TypeBlog Post...donor fluorophore to the acceptor fluorophore. The typical steps in FRET are: 1. Donor fluorophore excitation...excited fluorophore, FRET involves a non-radiative transfer of energy (i.e. no emitted photons) from the...absorption of a photon 2. Energy transfer from the excited donor directly to the acceptor fluorophore--think of... of it as a virtual photon 3. Relaxation of the acceptor fluorophore back to its ground state by emission...acceptor fluorophores must be compatible, such that the emission spectrum of the donor fluorophore overlaps...emission of a photon with wavelength specific to the acceptor In order for FRET to occur several constraints...with the excitation spectrum of the acceptor fluorophore. Otherwise the energy transferred from the donor... -
Fluorescent Proteins 101: Luciferase
TypeBlog Post...Source of Emitted Photons Chemical reaction High-energy photons Kinetics of Photon Generation Slower...emission of photons. The most familiar bioluminescent organism for most people is the firefly (Photinus pyralis...Modification Not Required Required Photobleaching/Phototoxicity Not susceptible Susceptible Subcellular...accurate and safe. In the case of a luciferase assay, photon emission is measured resulting from the catalysis...luciferin, ATP and oxygen as substrates. Production of photons by this bioluminescent reporter occurs slower than... result of the different mechanisms to produce photons, chemiluminescent reporters are generally less ...background levels and improved signal sensitivity since photons are simply measured – they are not required to ... -
Antibodies 101: Conventional vs Spectral Flow Cytometry
TypeBlog Post...to identify a fluorophore, spectral flow cytometers use all detectors for all fluorophores. This allows...samples stained with a single fluorophore. They’re required for every fluorophore you use in your panel, whether...conventional flow cytometry, light emitted by a fluorophore is guided to a single detector using a series...flow cytometry uses one detector to detect one fluorophore and therefore one cellular marker. However, emission... emission spectra of certain fluorophores can “spill over” into detectors that are not the primary detector...detector for that fluorophore. For example, in figure 1, the FITC signal is spilling over into the primary...the full spectrum of light to distinguish one fluorophore from another. Instead of using a single (primary... -
Giving gRNAs a Facelift - Synthetic and Beyond
TypeBlog Post...overcome these woes with photoactivatable and photocleavable gRNAs. Photocleavable guides are generated by...modification is 3’ phosphorothioate linkage, where a sulfur replaces a nonbridging phosphate oxygen. Other ...light. The photoactivatable counterpart to this system utilizes a gRNA which is photocaged and unable ...switches. Stabilizing gRNA modifications Sugar phosphate backbone modifications The recognition sequence... have been employed which modify the sugar or phosphate molecules of the RNA backbone to increase stability...coupling several of them together, for example phosphorothioates with 2’-O-methyl modifications, proved more... specifically ones which do not contain a 5’ triphosphate in the gRNA, reduce the innate immune response... -
Antibodies 101: Beyond Surface Labeling
TypeBlog Post... conjugated to a fluorophore, not every marker will have a corresponding fluorophore-conjugated antibody...cases, fluorophore-conjugated antibodies may exist, but only with a limited selection of fluorophores. If... tag but not a fluorophore. In a separate step, cells are incubated with a fluorophore-conjugated streptavidin...wide range of fluorophores, allowing for great flexibility when it comes to fluorophore selection for ...common method is a cell surface label, where fluorophore-conjugated antibodies directly bind to epitopes...employ beyond simply incubating cells with single-fluorophore-conjugated antibodies. These methods can include...interaction (Figure 1a). This interaction brings the fluorophore in proximity to the target marker, allowing for... -
28 Hot Plasmid Technologies from 2015
TypeBlog Post...releases energy as a photon. The photon energy is transferred to the acceptor fluorophore, a circularly permuted...range of mitochondrially targeted photoactivatable and photoswitchable FPs that are activated by UV light...subpopulations within the same cell; by photoswitching PSmOrange and photoactivating PAGFP in separate subpopulations... fluorescent pH sensors, a set of luciferase-fluorophore pH fusion reporters, pRSETb-pHlash and pcDNA3.1.... In the case of pHlash, the signal from the fluorophore is pH-dependent. Signal is simultaneously acquired...e43072. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043072. Photoswitchable tools for spatial and temporal control of cell...Three years ago, Brian Kuhlman’s lab designed photoswitchable dimers by fusing the SsrA peptide with the ... -
22 Hot Plasmid Technologies from 2014
TypeBlog Post...improved expression of recombinant phosphoproteins Protein phosphorylation is one of the most abundant forms...questions surrounding serine phosphorylation by adding this phosphorylated amino acid to the genetic code...the original or improved phosphoprotein synthesis reagents. One phosphoserine (SP218) insertion was moderately...plasmids required to make singly or multiply phosphorylated proteins (B40 OTS and pCRT7-GFP). To demonstrate...activating kinase 1 (MEK1) with either one or two phosphoserine residues cotranslationally inserted in their...moderately enhanced while two phosphoserine insertions (SP218/SP222) was dramatically enhanced with the...Addgene’s information page for the Rinehart phosphoprotein system, which includes detailed protocols provided... -
Rosella: A Fluorescent pH-Biosensor for Studying Autophagy
TypeBlog Post...Alkaline phosphatase activity: In yeast, the PHO8 gene encodes a vacuolar alkaline phosphatase. Normally...accumulation of Pho8Δ60 in the vacuole, where it is cleaved to generate an active enzyme. Pho8 phosphatase activity...protein. To monitor autophagy, the Pho8Δ60 mutant protein is expressed. Pho8Δ60 localizes to the cytosol in ...Normally PHO8 is synthesized at the ER, delivered to the vacuole via the secretory pathway, and then cleaved...activity or the molecular weight shift of Pho8 from its uncleaved to cleaved form is the final read out of...’s slow and only measures bulk autophagy. Morphological assays Electron microscopy: Electron microscopy...identification of autophagic structures based on morphology. Autophagosomes are relatively easy to identify... -
Antibodies 101: Introduction to Gating in Flow Cytometry
TypeBlog Post...FSC/SSC), the detected photons can be represented through a graph of photocurrent vs. time. The resulting...tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes of that tumor. In Figure 3 you can see how I gated out my lymphocyte population...(SSC). FSC and SSC depend on the cell’s size, morphology, and structural complexity. Height, Width...your individual experiment. Practical example: lymphocytes in a mouse tumor sample You made it! So much ...flow analysis, I can however clearly identify my lymphocyte population (10.7% of all recorded events) based...electric potential that can be applied to the photomultiplier inside the cytometer to increase the electric...case, I and other lab members had worked with lymphocytes before, so I knew where to look for them on the... -
The Fluorescent Vegetables in Aptamer Soup
TypeBlog Post... not photostable, and were presented in the study to support the uniqueness of the photostability of the...polymerase III transcription using a photostable RNA–fluorophore complex." Nature chemical biology 13.11...known promoter. Addgene’s Plasmids 101: Aptamer Fluorophores describes the enrichment process used to evaluate... and non toxic to cells. Because it rapidly photobleaches, DFHBI can only be used for qualitative, but...hydroxybenzylidene-imidazolinone-2-oxime (DFHO), a fluorophore modified from DsRed. DFHO shares many structural... Corn and its small molecule makes Corn more photostable than Spinach and Broccoli, and useful for quantitative...increased brightness compared to Mango, and all are photostable and useful for both live and fixed cell imaging... -
Viral Vectors 101: Optogenetic Tools
TypeBlog Post...Tichy et al., 2019), photoswitchable tethered ligands (PTL), and photoswitchable, orthogonal, remotely-tethered...pathways? Here’s where photoswitchable intracellular proteins come into play. Photoswitches can be used to activate... G-protein coupled receptors (OptoXRs), and photoswitches. Light-gated ion channels directly open and ...potential and a host of other cellular functions. Photoswitches are engineered molecules that induce conformational... special, covalently linked molecules (i.e. photoswitches) attached near the binding pocket of an engineered...activates downstream secondary signaling pathways. Photoswitchable tethered ligands hold the ligand in close proximity.... Controlling secondary pathways with photoswitches OptoXRs are great for activating entire signaling... -
Antibodies 101: Flow Cytometry
TypeBlog Post... levels of the fluorophore or fluorochrome-stained protein will emit a stronger photon than a cell expressing...emits green, yellow and orange photons while PE emits yellow and orange photons. If FITC and PE were being...cannot be used for subcellular analysis such as morphology or subcellular localization studies. For these...light source, a cell expressing the associated fluorophore or stained with the associated fluorochrome, ...captured by detectors. The strength of the emitted photons varies from cell to cell depending on the level...expression, measured using antibody conjugated fluorophores Fluorescent antibodies get around the challenges...contain a mix of cells including granulocytes, lymphocytes, and monocytes. Due to differences in size and... -
Hot Biosensors 2022: Year-End Roundup
TypeBlog Post...increased brightness, sensitivity, and photostability under two-photon illumination than previous GEVIs. Some...called JEDI-2P (Liu et al. 2022) optimized for two-photon imaging. They use a unique and powerful high-throughput...based on performance metrics specifically for two-photon microscopy. The resulting JEDI-2P has faster response...increased voltage response, brightness, and photostability. It enables sustained deep-tissue imaging in...recording using a fast indicator evolved for two-photon microscopy. Cell. 2022 Aug 16. pii: S0092-8674(...domain of ZAP70 (ZtSH2) which binds only the phosphorylated state of an immunoreceptor tyrosinase-based...only when the RTK is activated and the ITAM phosphorylated. To demonstrate that pYtags can be generalized... -
15 Hot Plasmids from 2017
TypeBlog Post...to our mScarlet Podcast Segment Photocleavable protein PhoCl expands optogenetics toolbox Increasingly...proteins. PhoCl is a new member of this class that works via a different mechanism - the PhoCl protein ...illustrates the utility of PhoCl in a variety of settings. For instance, inserting PhoCl in between a protein... al., 2007) and includes four promoters, six fluorophores with nonoverlapping emission spectra (N- and...initiation of reprogramming (evaluated by an alkaline phosphatase-positive assay) as well as stabilization (Nanog-GFP...mScarlet-H with M164H (2-fold improvement in photostability compared to mScarlet, fluorescent lifetime ...NES, enables control over localization. Inserting PhoCl between an enzyme and an inhibitor domain similarly... -
Quantifying DNA? Here are Five DNA Quantification Methods to Consider
TypeBlog Post...salts. Capillary electrophoresis Quantifying DNA using capillary electrophoresis is similar to quantifying... using gel electrophoresis. Except, it’s smaller. And automated. Unlike gel electrophoresis, you only ...wavelength that they maximally absorb. The spectrophotometer measures these absorbances using UV-transparent...specific for double strand DNA (as compared to spectrophotometric methods that measure all nucleic acids). ... sample concentration for you. Agarose gel electrophoresis Though not the quickest way to quantify DNA...methods can’t tell you and you don’t need a spectrophotometer or a fluorometer to quantify DNA this way....nanofluidic channel and the sample is separated by electrophoresis. Smaller fragments migrate quicker than larger... -
New Optogenetic Tools for Cytoskeleton and Membrane Control
TypeBlog Post...can hydrolyze phosphatidylcholine (PC), the predominant membrane lipid, to phosphatidic acid (PA) or it...activity. Researchers have designed a variety of photoswitchable elements into many other types of proteins.... of experiments. Opto-RhoGEFs manipulate cell morphology and adhesion But what if you’re interested in...cytoskeleton – actin? Actin dynamics control cell morphology, movement, and more, often driven by Rho family...filopodia formation, cell contraction, or other morphological changes, depending on the specific Rho GTPase...published OptoPLD, an optogenetically controlled phospholipase D (PLD). Now they present a set of variants ... it can swap phosphatidylchonine’s choline head group for other natural or synthetic head groups. The ... -
GCE4All: Making Genetic Code Expansion Accessible
TypeBlog Post...available now. It is for recombinant expression of phosphoserine-including proteins in E. coli (Zhu et al., 2022... 2022). It uses the TAG codon for the phosphoserine and, because it uses ∆serB strains, does not require...require exogenously added phosphoserine. A community resource Like Addgene, GCE4All is a community resource...shortlisted several protocols, including their phosphoserine ncAA protocol, to optimize and share, they’re..., R. (2022). Site-specific Incorporation of Phosphoserine into Recombinant Proteins in Escherichia coli... -
Which Fluorescent Protein Should I Use?
TypeBlog Post...categories of fluorescent proteins Photoactivatable / Photoconvertible: These proteins can switch their ... fluorescence. Examples for such photoactivatable or photoconvertible proteins are PA-GFP, Dendra2, and...e.g. mCherry). Oxygen: The maturation of the chromophore on many FPs (particularly those derived from ...takes the FP to correctly fold and create the chromophore. This can be from a few minutes after it is translated...0.1) and this should be taken into account. Photostability can be affected by experimental parameters ...excitation light intensity, pH or temperature). Photostability: Fluorescent molecules gets bleached (i.e. ...after prolonged exposure to excitation light. Photostability can be as short as 100ms (EBFP) or as long ... -
Hot Plasmids - October 2022
TypeBlog Post...absorption of 540 nm and two-photon excitation around 1,040 nm, has larger photocurrents, and is more selective...they found an indicator that is optimized for 2-photon imaging of voltages. This includes monitoring of...resultant JEDI-2P sensors overcome many challenges in 2-photon in-vivo imaging of voltage fluctuations. Image ...recording using a fast indicator evolved for two-photon microscopy. Cell, 18, 3408 - 3425.e29. (2022). ...channelrhodopsins (KCRs), from a fungus-like protist Hyphochytrium catenoides (Govorunova et al. 2022). The authors...have high selectivity for K+ over Na+ and rapid photocurrent kinetics. They demonstrate the use of HcKCR1...frequencies with (magenta) and without (black) photoactivation of HcKCR1 in mouse neurons. D) Membrane voltage... -
Luminescent Imaging with Nano-lanterns
TypeBlog Post... As Nano-lanterns are not subject to photobleaching/phototoxicity, they successfully imaged multiple subcellular...long-term imaging, especially where photobleaching and phototoxicity are a concern, these constructs come...Long-term light exposure can also lead to cellular phototoxicity, and experimental success can be affected by...by both autofluorescence and photobleaching. Researchers have long been interested in using luminescence...bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET). Photons emitted by a Renilla luciferase variant are used...in the culture medium to allow RLuc8 to produce photons. The original nano-lantern emitted yellow-green...Resources on the Addgene Blog Learn about Photoactivatable Fluorescent Proteins Check Out Fluorescent... -
Antibodies 101: Buffers, Storage, and Conjugates
TypeBlog Post...panel. First, fluorophores vary in brightness. You don’t want a super-bright fluorophore, like PE, on ...assay you can do. Most non-HRP conjugates are fluorophores, which work not by reacting to a chemical, but...then read by a detector panel in the machine. Fluorophores are light sensitive, so antibodies conjugated...before you make your purchase. Picking a single fluorophore for an experiment is easy, but what about those...of interest! Research the brightness of your fluorophores before buying and try to inversely pair brightness...possible. Fig 2: Try to inversely pair fluorophore strength with protein abundance. Second...Second, you’ll need to consider spectral overlap. Fluorophores signal are actually quite broad, resulting in... -
Antibodies 101: Conjugation
TypeBlog Post...together. Common conjugates in the lab Fluorophores Fluorophores allow you to detect your antibodies using...microscopy, flow cytometry, or spectrophotometry. The range of fluorophores available for antibody conjugation...tool for comparing different fluorophores. We also touched on fluorophores as antibody conjugates in an...sure to check the spectral properties of the fluorophores you are considering to make sure that they’ll...equally, if not more, common conjugate class than fluorophores are enzymes. The most common enzyme conjugates...are Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP) and Alkaline Phosphatase (AP). Various substrates for each of these enzymes... -
When Fidelity Matters: A frank discussion about ligase fidelity
TypeBlog Post...enzymes that seal breaks in DNA by joining 5 ́-phosphorylated DNA termini to 3 ́-OH DNA termini (1-4). In...ligation product in a gel, but we can now use fluorophore- quencher pairs or qPCR-based methods to greatly...downstream side (the base pair providing the 5 ́-phosphate to the ligation). The structural/mechanistic reason...the reaction. This “peeling back” of the 5 ́-phosphorylated base can be observed in the crystal structures...identifiable and quantifiable by capillary electrophoresis (CE) (see below). This method allowed screening...gene PCR-ligase detection reaction-capillary electrophoresis assay." Journal of clinical microbiology 45.6...mixed population of excess wild‐type DNA." Electrophoresis 34.9-10 (2013): 1415-1422. PubMed PMID: 23463388... -
Science as Art
TypeBlog Post...scientist and photographer based at the University of Queensland, whose outstanding marine photography has attracted...” Daniel went on to discuss his work: “Macro photography has been my passion for a while - a tool to expand...life cycle of the creature they deal with.” So photography can be used as a way to better understand and...scientist and non-scientist alike. “The other thing photography has shown to me - it requires an awful amount...data, publish in time, defend the thesis, etc. Photography is critically important in many fields of biology... can be found on his website http://www.microworldsphotography.com/. Another artist who spent his life...artists can compete in the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition - a 40 year old international ... -
Fluorescent Proteins 101: When GFP lets you down
TypeBlog Post...mEGFP (Zacharias et al., 2002). GFP needs oxygen Chromophore formation requires a fully folded beta-barrel...an intramolecular reaction that generates the chromophore (Tsien, 1998). Importantly, this reaction requires...-by-case basis. GFP is sensitive to acid The chromophore of GFP can exist in a protonated and a deprotonated... bind specifically and with high affinity to fluorophores. Examples are the FlAsH tag, the His tag and...enzyme to covalently label the peptide with a fluorophore. Both systems are a hybrid between a genetically...homology domains can be used to detect specific phosphoinositides (Varnai and Balla, 2008) (Figure 2). RNA production...Péter, and Tamas Balla. "Live cell imaging of phosphoinositides with expressed inositide binding protein domains... -
Technologies Enabled by NanoLuc® Luciferase
TypeBlog Post...yourself or you could “clone by phone”. One of my professors was excellent at phone cloning with labs around ... NanoLuc® Luciferase from a rather dull 19kDa Oplophorus luciferase by Promega’s Advanced Technologies...problematic because excitation light can cause phototoxicity, autofluorescence, and perturb biological phenomena... molecules. FRET sensors face challenges of photobleaching, autofluorescence, and, in the case of exciting...exciting cyan-excitable donors, phototoxicity. Another challenge to using FRET sensors comes when employing...sensor with the following characteristics: No photoexcitation High Ion specificity High sensitivity Easy ...and colleagues (8) were interested in using photoactivatable, optogenetic accuators to depolarize or hyperpolarize... -
Fluorescent Proteins 101: Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)
TypeBlog Post...spectrum (hence the name), which is due to a chromophore formed from a maturation reaction of three specific...surprising aspects of GFP was the fact that the chromophore forms spontaneously and without additional co-factors... β-sheet-containing “barrel” shape, with the chromophore concealed at the center of the structure, shielded...that increased the fluorescence intensity and photostability of GFP. This also shifted its major excitation...been introduced to GFP and new iterations of fluorophores are constantly being engineered. Table 1 lists... 1: The specific mutations comprising common fluorophores Fluorescent Protein Mutations Relative to...Known Function S65T Increased fluorescence, photostability, and a shift of the major excitation peak to... -
Plasmids 101: Biotinylation
TypeBlog Post...binding. Photobiotinylation Photobiotin can be used to non-selectively label DNA and RNA. Photobiotin acetate...papers and webpages are listed below: EMSA (Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assays) ELISA (Enzyme-Linked...consists of a biotin molecule attached to a photoreactive arylazide group. Under strong visible light,...nearby nucleic acids (McInnes et al., 1990). Photobiotinylation is sometimes easier and less expensive than...C., & Symons, R. H. “Preparation and uses of photobiotin.” Methods in Enzymology 184 (1990): 588–600. ...Schwartz, S. A. “Biotinylated probes in the electrophoretic mobility shift assay to examine specific dsDNA... -
Antibodies 101: Introduction to Immunofluorescence
TypeBlog Post... that targets the primary is conjugated to a fluorophore (Figure 1). Figure 1: Comparison between...exist and you can begin to see why generating fluorophore-conjugated versions for each primary antibody...IgGs and then conjugate them with an array of fluorophores. It is common for labs to keep a few trusted... secondary antibodies conjugated to distinct fluorophores to visualize multiple targets at once. An advantage...to ensure that you are using secondaries with fluorophores whose excitation/emission spectra do not overlap.... Fixation Good fixation maintains sample morphology with minimal impact to the target epitope. There...to the first antibody and is conjugated to a fluorophore. You may need to optimize the concentration and... -
Evolution of Brainbow: Using Cre-lox for Multicolor Labeling of Neurons
TypeBlog Post...caused partially by fluorophore photoinstability, as well as the tendency of fluorophores to aggregate in ...permit analysis by immunostaining. Although the fluorophores used are fluorescently distinct, their protein...preventing design of antibodies specific to each fluorophore. Third, Brainbow-1 and Brainbow-2 each contained...ideal characteristics (low aggregation, high photostability, and high stability after fixation.) From the...3.0, but with mOrange2, EGFP and mKate2 as the fluorophores; mOrange2 is the default state. In contrast,...cells in which the construct is expressed. The photostability of Brainbow-3.2 is improved due to the addition... -
Channelrhodopsins with improved light sensitivity for minimally-invasive optogenetics
TypeBlog Post...engineering channelrhodopsins to have improved photocurrent properties: The sequence and structures that...channelrhodopsin, as well as predict the channelrhodopsin’s photocurrent strength, wavelength sensitivity, and off-kinetics...predicted channelrhodopsin sequences would have photocurrent properties best suited for less-invasive optogenetics...All thirty were functional and their measured photocurrent amplitude, wavelength sensitivity, and off-kinetics...neurons expressing ChRgers produced stronger photocurrents at low light intensity than existing channelrhodopsins...response. This result showed that ChRger2 stronger photocurrent properties make it better suited for systemic...ChRger2’s improved light sensitivity and higher-photocurrent properties when paired with PHP.eB’s systemic... -
Hot Plasmids May 2018 - Optogenetics, Decaffeination, Biosensors, and Fluorescent Protein Tools
TypeBlog Post... fused to the phosphopeptide binding domain FHA. The FHA1 domain binds to phosphorylated PKA substrate...fluorescence intensity due to interactions with photoactivatable fluorescent protein Dronpa. The authors tracked...detect PKA activity can be generalized to measure phosphatase activity, second messenger activity, and protein-protein...peak of 519 nm. These proteins have improved photophysical properties and can be used in quenching, FRET... -
Hot Plasmids and Viral Preps - January 2021
TypeBlog Post...-fold more photostable and as bright to mVenus, the parent YFP, and is the most photostable YFP to date...improved activity as compared to other recombinase/photodimer pairs. Created with BioRender.com In their... publication, Mary Dunlop’s lab generated a photosensitive Cre, Opto-Cre-Vvd, by splitting and joining...joining the protein regions with Vivid (Vvd) photodimers. Upon the application of blue light, Vvd dimerizes....ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32675376/ mGold, the most photostable yellow fluorescent protein to date By Justin ...contribute to experiments that require high photostability, such as time-lapse imaging or with high light... -
Tips for Technical Support Calls
TypeBlog Post...I’ve answered hundreds of phone calls and thousands of customer service emails in my six years as a senior...now spend far less time answering help emails and phone calls, I feel compelled to share my years of accumulated...customer, can get the most out of your email or phone call. Though my experience is based solely on my...texting, actually writing an e-mail or making a phone call is a big commitment when you’re busy. Your ...might think. The Addgene scientists answering the phone are smart, but they cannot (and should not) answer... our thread or remove a good 5 minutes from our phone call. If your concern is based on data you have... Abcam and NEB have Ph.D.s answering emails and phones). We can’t be experts on every technique or experiment... -
Viral Vectors 101: Voltage Indicators
TypeBlog Post...an opsin (a GPCR) linked to a chromophore and functions as a photoreceptor in the eye. There are two flavors...voltage-gated potassium channels found in Drosophila to phosphatases from sea squirts. This design structurally separates...cell level as they are in vitro. Factors like photobleaching, lack of red-shifted indicators, and brightness...significantly brighter and available with red-shifted fluorophores (find FRET capable GEVIs here!). The only issue...issue with these GEVIs? They perform poorly in two-photon conditions, which are necessary conditions for ...indicator. To give an example, a genetically encoded phosphatase (voltage sensing) hydrolyzes a precursor dye ... -
10 Basic tips for mammalian cell culture
TypeBlog Post...cells lines have similar morphologies, being familiar with these morphologies and doing a quick check ...that any medium or washing buffer, such as PBS (Phosphate Buffered Saline), that comes in contact with the...purpose.Learn about the effects of CO2 on sample pH Cell morphology: Shape and size matter You should have a light...incubator). It also helps to get familiar with the morphology of the cell line you’re working with so that ...passaged. This could change their growth rates and morphology, rendering their continued use inadvisable for...passage number. Cells change their growth rate and morphology at high passage numbers (>30-40 times), depending... -
Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy
TypeBlog Post...all of the fluorophores as it passes through the specimen, which often leads to photobleaching. Furthermore...focus light. Therefore, there is much less photo-bleaching or photo-damage than in conventional laser scanning...order to improve axial resolution and reduce phototoxicity for imaging live specimens, they combined light...light scattering and absorption. Finally, the photomultipliers used to detect light in confocal microscopes...obstacles (e.g. air bubbles or high concentration of fluorophores) cast shadows along the illumination path. The... -
Plasmids 101: Dimers and Multimers
TypeBlog Post...identification of plasmid multimers. Capillary Gel Electrophoresis (CGE) analysis Another technique that can detect... detect multimers is capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE), which has been used in plasmid vaccine and gene...Plasmid Topology Monitoring by Capillary Gel Electrophoresis. Curr Mol Med. 2020;20(10):798-805. doi: 10.2174... He Y, Lacher NA, Ruesch MN. Capillary gel electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence of plasmid ...plasmid DNA in untreated capillary. Electrophoresis. 2010 Jul;31(14):2436-41. doi: 10.1002/elps.201000061. PMID...topoisomers, knots, and catenanes by agarose gel electrophoresis. Methods Mol Biol. 2009;582:11-25. doi: 10.1007...topology analysis of plasmid DNA by capillary gel electrophoresis. BioProcess Int. 2006 Sep;4(8):38-40. Summers... -
Antibodies 101: The Basics of Western Blotting
TypeBlog Post... Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) is the first step of a western. ...s post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation, acetylation, methylation and ubiquitination...ubiquitination. For example, to test if a protein is phosphorylated following a specific experimental condition you....2015.04.012 Burnette WN (1981) “Western Blotting”: Electrophoretic transfer of proteins from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide....76.7.3116 Towbin H, Staehelin T, Gordon J (1979) Electrophoretic transfer of proteins from polyacrylamide gels... -
Live and Let Dye: Self-Labeling Protein Tags
TypeBlog Post... construct for every application. Plus, the photophysical properties of chemical dyes provide many advantages...strategies. The green structure represents a fluorophore or other useful ligand, gray structure is the...non-natural amino acids to directly incorporate a fluorophore in your protein or to incorporate an alkene to...Organic dyes are typically both brighter and more photostable than fluorescent proteins (often up to 10-fold...years; improving the labeling kinetics or the fluorophore’s microenvironment to enhance brightness, stability...Better Dyeing Through Chemistry & Small Molecule Fluorophores. Addgene Blog. https://blog.addgene.org/better-dyeing-through-chemistry-small-molecule-fluorophores...better-dyeing-through-chemistry-small-molecule-fluorophores Los, G. V., Encell, L. P., McDougall, M. G.,... -
New Neuroscience Tool: The iGluSnFR3 Glutamate Sensor
TypeBlog Post...sensor’s photophysical properties such as kinetics, ∆F/F0, SNR, dynamic range, photostability, quantum...signals upon sensing glutamate using both 1-photon and 2-photon imaging. Figure 1: 1P and 2P excitation...membrane trafficking and localization. Improved photophysical properties The improved variants of iGluSnFR3...pMinDisplay vector. GPI contains a C-terminal glycosylphostidylinositol anchor. SGZ contains a PDGFR transmembrane... -
Fluorescent Protein Travel Awards - FLiPs and Fluorescent Protein Biosensors
TypeBlog Post...Xin Zhou greatly expanded that list by using photoswitchable fluorescent proteins to create enzymes that...turned the enzymes back on. Xin termed these photoswitchable enzymes Fluorescent Light-inducible Proteins...various designs, Xin has been able to develop photoswitchable Intersectin, Cdc42, Raf1, Mek1, Mek2, Cdk5,... You can learn more about Xin’s work with photoswitchable components of the ERK signaling pathway in ... the production of HMOs. Current HPLC-MS and fluorophore-based technologies are too time consuming in ...Resources on the Addgene Blog Learn More about Photosactivatable Fluorescent Proteins Use Light to Control ... -
Viral Vectors 101: Gamma-Retroviral Packaging Systems
TypeBlog Post...envelope, Phoenix-ECO, (for infection of mouse and rat cells), or an amphotropic envelope, Phoenix-AMPHO (for...of the viral packaging cell line. For example, Phoenix, a second generation γ-retrovirus packaging cell... produced in just a few days. Another variant, Phoenix-gp, contains only Gag-Pol and enables additional... -
A Practical Approach to Choosing the B(right)est Fluorescent Protein
TypeBlog Post... efficiency by which absorbed photons are converted into emitted photons. These are indicated by the extinction...this series of posts are (i) brightness, (ii) photostability and (iii) aggregation tendency. Brightness...high brightness is an important feature of a fluorophore. The key question is how the brightness is best...Theoretical brightness Two key properties of fluorophores that determine brightness are the extent to ...Without further information about properties like photostability or aggregation tendency, our choice would be... -
Participate in the Pets of Addgene Scavenger Hunt
TypeBlog Post...clue 1 below!) You will find five photos this way. At the very last photo, you will find a link to a form...workspace over the last year. Now, we’ve collected photos of our pets with Addgene gear, and have unleashed...Addgene-branded clothing on the blog. Below each photo, the pet gives you a clue to help you find the next... next picture. If you find the next correct photo, you will see a reference to this scavenger hunt and... -
Multicolor Animals: Using Fluorescent Proteins to Understand Single Cell Behavior
TypeBlog Post...et al., 2013), incorporates the highly photostable fluorophores mOrange2, EGFP, and mKate2 (red) to solve...expect to see systems that use newer, more photostable fluorophores and that can be combined with new imaging...their technology Brainbow. Brainbow 1.0 used the fluorophores RFP (red), YFP (yellow), and membrane-tethered...clearing methods and can be labeled by synthetic fluorophores, which are more stable than fluorescent proteins... -
Quick Guide to Near-Infrared Fluorescent Proteins
TypeBlog Post...of which you can find at Addgene. Biliverdin chromophore Near-infrared fluorescent proteins (NIR FPs) ...) were derived from natural photoreceptors incorporating biliverdin IXα (BV) autocatalytically. Fortunately...from your source and to your camera. Two-photon image of miRFP670nano3-expressing neurons in the... derived from bacterial phytochrome (BphPs) photoreceptors have higher apparent cellular brightness than...were derived from cyanobacteriochrome (CBCR) photoreceptors (Oliinyk et al., 2019). They were engineered...Molecular brightness vs. iRFP713, % Oligomeric state Photo-stabilityc, t1/2, s pKa Brightness in HeLa cells...