Green Fluorescent Protein
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Transcript of Green Fluorescent Protein
Green Fluorescent Protein
a B/MB senior seminarbrought to you by Colm O’Carroll
This presentation will cover
• The structural aspects of GFP which make fluorescence possible
• The advantages of using GFP and GFP mutants over other fluorescent markers
• The use of GFP to monitor viral movement in plants
The Green Fluorescent Protein
GFP’s unique structure
• Composed of 238 amino acids• “Paint in a can”• Each monomer composed of a central -
helix surrounded by an eleven stranded cylinder of anti-parallel -sheets
• Cylinder has a diameter of about 30A and is about 40A long
• Fluorophore located on central helix
The Active Site
The Fluoropore Active Site
• Ser65-Tyr66-Gly67 • Deprotonated phenolate of Tyr66 is cause of
fluorescence • Forster Cycle (1949-Theodor Forster)• Proton transfer to His148
Fluorophore formation
• One limitation of wtGFP is its slow rate of fluorescence acquisition in vivo
• Renaturation most likely by a parallel pathway
• Oxidation of Fluoropore (2-4 hours)• Two step process