title: Improving membrane voltage measurements using FRET with new fluorescent proteins.
abstract: We used two new coral fluorescent proteins as fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) donor and acceptor to develop a voltage sensor, named Mermaid, that displays approximately 40% changes in emission ratio per 100 mV, allowing for direct visualization of electrical activities in cultured excitable cells. Notably, Mermaid has fast on-off kinetics at warm (approximately 33 degrees C) temperatures and can report voltage spikes comparable to action potentials.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Cell Function Dynamics, Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidekazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsutsui
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karasawa
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okamura
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miyawaki
mesh_terms: D002462:Cell Membrane; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D007700:Kinetics; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D008164:Luminescent Proteins