title: Reversible photobleaching of enhanced green fluorescent proteins.
abstract: Color variants of green fluorescent protein (GFP) are increasingly used for multicolor imaging, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). Here we show that experimental settings commonly used in these imaging experiments may induce an as yet uncharacterized reversible photobleaching of fluorescent proteins, which is more pronounced at acidic pH. Whereas the reversible photobleaching spectrum of eCFP corresponds to its absorption spectrum, reversible photobleaching spectra of yellow variants resemble absorption spectra of their protonated states. Fluorescence intensities recover spontaneously with time constants of 25-58 s. The recovery of eCFP can be further accelerated by illumination. The resulting steady-state fluorescence reflects a variable equilibrium between reversible photobleaching, spontaneous recovery, and light-induced recovery. These processes can cause significant artifacts in commonly applied imaging techniques, photobleach-based FRET determinations, and FRAP assays.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Pharmakologie, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Thielallee 67-73, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sinnecker
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Voigt
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hellwig
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schaefer
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008027:Light; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008956:Models, Chemical; D038761:Photobleaching; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C485182:Cyan Fluorescent Protein; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C434479:citrine protein, bacteria; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; C054562:yellow fluorescent protein, Bacteria; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins