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posted by Fnord666 on Monday January 15 2018, @02:14PM   Printer-friendly
from the picture-this dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Visualizing cellular components and processes at the molecular level is important for understanding the basis of any biological activity. Fluorescent proteins (FPs) are one of the most useful tools for investigating intracellular molecular dynamics.

However, FPs have usage limitations for imaging in low pH environments, such as in acidic organelles, including endosomes, lysosomes, and plant vacuoles. In environments of pH less than 6, most FPs lose their brightness and stability due to their neutral pKa. pKa is the measure of acid strength; the smaller the pKa is, the more acidic the substance is.

"Although there are reports of several acid-tolerant green FPs (GFPs), most have serious drawbacks. Furthermore, there is a lack of acid-tolerant GFPs that are practically applicable to bioimaging," says Hajime Shinoda, lead author of an Osaka University study that aimed to design acid-tolerant monomeric GFP that is practically applicable to live-cell imaging in acidic organelles. "In the current study, we developed an acid-tolerant GFP. We called it Gamillus."

[... ] X-ray crystallography (a technique used for determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in this case, a Gamillus crystal) and point mutagenesis suggest the acid tolerance of Gamillus is attributed to stabilization of deprotonation in its chemical structure. The findings were published in Cell Chemical Biology.

"The applicability of Gamillus as a molecular tag was shown by the correct localization pattern of Gamillus fusions in a variety of cellular structures, including ones that are difficult to target," corresponding author Takeharu Nagai says. "We believe Gamillus can be a powerful molecular tool for investigating unknown biological phenomena involving acidic organelles, such as autophagy."


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @10:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 15 2018, @10:34PM (#622815)

    Typically, red proteins (e.g. mCherry) are used for this application as their structure is more acid stable. Not revolutionary, but it is still useful to have more options.

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