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Back to the Future: Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Proteins as Inert Tracers of the Intracellular Environment

Over the past decades, the discovery and development of genetically encoded fluorescent proteins (FPs) has brought a revolution into our ability to study biologic phenomena directly within living matter. First, FPs enabled fluorescence-labeling of a variety of molecules of interest to study their lo...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Cardarelli, Francesco
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7312867/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32545175
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms21114164
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author Cardarelli, Francesco
author_facet Cardarelli, Francesco
author_sort Cardarelli, Francesco
collection PubMed
description Over the past decades, the discovery and development of genetically encoded fluorescent proteins (FPs) has brought a revolution into our ability to study biologic phenomena directly within living matter. First, FPs enabled fluorescence-labeling of a variety of molecules of interest to study their localization, interactions and dynamic behavior at various scales—from cells to whole organisms/animals. Then, rationally engineered FP-based sensors facilitated the measurement of physicochemical parameters of living matter—especially at the intracellular level, such as ion concentration, temperature, viscosity, pressure, etc. In addition, FPs were exploited as inert tracers of the intracellular environment in which they are expressed. This oft-neglected role is made possible by two distinctive features of FPs: (i) the quite null, unspecific interactions of their characteristic β-barrel structure with the molecular components of the cellular environment; and (ii) their compatibility with the use of time-resolved fluorescence-based optical microscopy techniques. This review seeks to highlight the potential of such unique combinations of properties and report on the most significative and original applications (and related advancements of knowledge) produced to date. It is envisioned that the use of FPs as inert tracers of living matter structural organization holds a potential for several lines of further development in the next future, discussed in the last section of the review, which in turn can lead to new breakthroughs in bioimaging.
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spelling pubmed-73128672020-06-29 Back to the Future: Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Proteins as Inert Tracers of the Intracellular Environment Cardarelli, Francesco Int J Mol Sci Review Over the past decades, the discovery and development of genetically encoded fluorescent proteins (FPs) has brought a revolution into our ability to study biologic phenomena directly within living matter. First, FPs enabled fluorescence-labeling of a variety of molecules of interest to study their localization, interactions and dynamic behavior at various scales—from cells to whole organisms/animals. Then, rationally engineered FP-based sensors facilitated the measurement of physicochemical parameters of living matter—especially at the intracellular level, such as ion concentration, temperature, viscosity, pressure, etc. In addition, FPs were exploited as inert tracers of the intracellular environment in which they are expressed. This oft-neglected role is made possible by two distinctive features of FPs: (i) the quite null, unspecific interactions of their characteristic β-barrel structure with the molecular components of the cellular environment; and (ii) their compatibility with the use of time-resolved fluorescence-based optical microscopy techniques. This review seeks to highlight the potential of such unique combinations of properties and report on the most significative and original applications (and related advancements of knowledge) produced to date. It is envisioned that the use of FPs as inert tracers of living matter structural organization holds a potential for several lines of further development in the next future, discussed in the last section of the review, which in turn can lead to new breakthroughs in bioimaging. MDPI 2020-06-11 /pmc/articles/PMC7312867/ /pubmed/32545175 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms21114164 Text en © 2020 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Cardarelli, Francesco
Back to the Future: Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Proteins as Inert Tracers of the Intracellular Environment
title Back to the Future: Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Proteins as Inert Tracers of the Intracellular Environment
title_full Back to the Future: Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Proteins as Inert Tracers of the Intracellular Environment
title_fullStr Back to the Future: Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Proteins as Inert Tracers of the Intracellular Environment
title_full_unstemmed Back to the Future: Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Proteins as Inert Tracers of the Intracellular Environment
title_short Back to the Future: Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Proteins as Inert Tracers of the Intracellular Environment
title_sort back to the future: genetically encoded fluorescent proteins as inert tracers of the intracellular environment
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7312867/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32545175
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms21114164
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