LSF Germany - Dr. Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz

National Institute of HealthCell Biology and Metabolism Branch Bethesda, USA

"New Methodologies for Imaging Protein Transport, Turnover and Topology in Living Cells"

Abstract

The development of fluorescent proteins as molecular tags over the past decade has spurred a revolution by allowing complex biochemical processes to be correlated with the functioning of proteins in livings cells. Fluorescent proteins such as green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the jelly fish Aequorea Victoria and its variants can be fused to virtually any protein of interest to analyze protein geography, movement and chemistry in living cells.

As such, they have provided an important new tool for understanding protein function, filling an urgent need now that the genome sequence of many organisms is complete. Among the new fluorescent proteins are those that can be photoactivated. These molecules are invisible until activated by a specific wavelength of light, at which point they become brightly fluorescent.

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