title: Monomeric red fluorescent protein variants used for imaging studies in different species.
abstract: Fluorescent proteins have proven to be excellent tools for live-cell imaging studies. In addition to green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its variants, recent progress was achieved in the development of monomeric red fluorescent proteins (mRFPs) that show improved properties in respect to maturation and intracellular fluorescence. mRFPmars, a red fluorescent protein designed especially for the use in Dictyostelium, has been employed to tag different proteins for live-cell investigations in Dictyostelium. mRFPruby, which differs in sequence from mRFPmars in four amino acids, has a codon usage optimised for the application in mammalian cells. Here, we show that both mRFP variants can also be applied for localisation studies in other organisms. mRFPmars was expressed in Hydra and fused to the Bcl-2 family protein Bax. mRFPruby in combination with histone 2B was expressed in Drosophila S2 cells to monitor mitosis. Using mouse cell lines, mRFPruby fused to beta-actin was assayed with high spatial resolution to study details of actin cytoskeleton dynamics. In addition, we demonstrate that both mRFP variants are also suitable for dual-colour microscopy in the different species.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Zellbiologie (ABI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Schillerstr. 42, D-80336 München, Germany. amueller@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Müller-Taubenberger
authors.forename: Michel J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Vos
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Böttger
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lasi
authors.forename: Frank P L
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Klemens
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rottner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002460:Cell Line; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D006801:Humans; D006829:Hydra / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000097573:Red Fluorescent Protein
chemical_list: D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D000097573:Red Fluorescent Protein