Why is it interesting?
The biological function of receptor proteins such as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) depends on localization, internalization, trafficking and density of surface expression. Fluorescence microscopic imaging of labelled proteins provides this information
What are we doing?
Methods for labelling of proteins with fluorescent reporter groups should offer
(i) high selectivity for the protein of interest,
(ii) high-photon output for high-resolution imaging,
(iii) a reduced size of the required tags to avoid interference with protein function,
(iv) stability to facilitate time lapse experiments,
(v) rapid labeling to enable the investigation of fast biological processes and
(vi) a modular design to allow the attachment of various functional units beyond fluorescent labels.
Our contributions: