A Near-Infrared BiFC Reporter for In Vivo Imaging of Protein-Protein Interactions

作者：Filonov Grigory S; Verkhusha Vladislav V^*

来源：Chemistry & Biology, 2013, 20(8): 1078-1086.

DOI：10.1016/j.chembiol.2013.06.009

Studies of protein-protein interactions deep in organs and in whole mammals have been hindered by a lack of genetically encoded fluorescent probes in near-infrared region for which mammalian tissues are the most transparent. We have used a near-infrared fluorescent protein iRFP engineered from a bacterial phytochrome as the template to develop an in vivo split fluorescence complementation probe. The domain architecture-based rational design resulted in an iSplit reporter with the spectra optimal for whole-body imaging, high photostability, and high complementation contrast, which compares favorably to that of other available split fluorescent protein-based probes. Successful visualization of interaction of two known protein partners in a living mouse model suggests iSplit as the probe of choice for noninvasive detection of protein-protein interactions in vivo, whereas its fast intracellular degradation enables time-resolved monitoring of repetitive binding events.

• 出版日期2013-8-22