Hi!
PE (phycoerythrin) and APC (allophycocyanin) are fluorescent proteins in algae and are known to have very high fluorescence intensity. They are conjugated to antibodies and used for FACS imaging. It also shows a different excitation and fluorescence spectrum than GFP.
Since they are proteins, it would be possible to express them in mammalian cells by introducing the genes for PE and APC into mammalian cells.
Therefore, PE and APC, along with GFP, could be used for multicolor cell imaging, but we could not find any papers that expressed them in cells and performed cell imaging. (If you have any examples of introducing them into mammalian cells, please let me know.
Why are these proteins commonly used in FACS analysis as antibody-binding fluorescent proteins, but not in cellular expression?
It would not be sufficient to express the proteins. It would also be necessary to express the biosynthetic pathways to produce the chromophores. Even then, the conditions in the mammalian cells might not be correct to assemble these complex proteins with their chromophores. In contrast, the green fluorescent proteins fold up and self-produce their chromophores within mammalian cells.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Physical Sciences
- Materials Science
- Plating