Monitoring protein interactions and dynamics with solvatochromic fluorophores

• Main Authors: Loving, Galen S. (Contributor), Sainlos, Matthieu (Contributor), Imperiali, Barbara (Contributor)
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V., 2012-03-16T16:36:23Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

Solvatochromic fluorophores possess emission properties that are sensitive to the nature of the local microenvironment. These dyes have been exploited in applications ranging from the study of protein structural dynamics to the detection of protein-binding interactions. Although the solvatochromic indole fluorophore of tryptophan has been utilized extensively for in vitro studies to advance our understanding of basic protein biochemistry, the emergence of new extrinsic synthetic dyes with improved properties, in conjunction with recent developments in site-selective methods to incorporate these chemical tools into proteins, now open the way for studies in more complex systems. Herein, we discuss recent technological advancements and their application in the design of powerful reporters, which serve critical roles in modern cell biology and assay development.
National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH Cell Migration Consortium (GM064346))
National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CHE-0414243)
National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Interdepartmental Biotechnology Training Grant T32 GM08334)
European Commission (Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship Program)