Green fluorescence protein (GFP) is a 27KD protein derived from the jellyfish Aquorea victoria that emits a green light (emission peak at a wavelength of 509 nm) when excited by blue light (excitation peak at a wavelength of 395 nm). GFP is a highly versatile protein that has become an invaluable tool in cell biology research because of its intrinsic fluorescence without substrate requirement, ability to be visualized over time durations - both short- and long-term - in living cells, and short sequence making it easy to clone and use an unobtrusive tag. GFP fluorescence is stable under standard fixation conditions and suitable for a huge variety of applications. Due to all of these advantages, GFP has been widely used as a gene expression reporter and tag, enabling researchers to visualize and localize proteins within living cells without the extra burden or complication of staining.
Immunocytochemistry/Immunofluorescence: GFP Antibody
Other GFP applications include of protein-protein interaction assessments with the yeast two-hybrid system and distance measurement between proteins using fluorescence energy transfer (FRET) techniques. Usage of GFP technology has contributed considerably to a greater understanding of cell physiology, protein localization and movement within cellular compartments, and live cell trafficking and movement in cancer metastasis and normal development. There is a vast body of publications based upon use of GFP across all disciplines of biology and medicine. Immunohistochemistry experiments with the GFP antibody from Day et al were done to validate the role of the A2A adenosine receptor activation in bone marrow-derived cells as a protective measure against ischemia-reperfusion injuries within the liver1. Additional GFP antibody immunohistochemistry allowed researchers at the Mayo Clinic to monitor a novel lentivirus-based transgene expression primate eyes2. Their work suggests this delivery system could be applied to human glaucoma gene therapy. Stem cell therapy studies used the GFP antibody to demonstrate the importance of cardiomyocyte lineage cells for stem cell therapy treatment of myocardial infarction3. Studies out of Powell’s lab were published in Cell that highlighted the role of pan-erbB negative regulator (Lrig1) as an intestinal stem cell marker that is also a tumor suppressor negative regulator4. Immunoblotting with the GFP antibody allowed Lund et al to examine the differential effects of a variety of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) on HIV-1 expression5.
Novus Biologicals offers GFP reagents for your research needs including:
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