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A novel suite of genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors for dynamic and sensitive enzyme activity measurements in vivo
Author(s) -
Mehta Sohum,
Mo Albert,
Zhang Jinfan,
Zhang Jin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.657.8
Subject(s) - förster resonance energy transfer , biosensor , context (archaeology) , computational biology , fluorescent protein , in vivo , fluorescence , biology , nanotechnology , chemistry , biophysics , biochemistry , green fluorescent protein , genetics , gene , physics , materials science , paleontology , quantum mechanics
Fluorescent protein‐based biosensors have revolutionized biomedical science by enabling the direct, real‐time visualization of molecular processes with high spatial and temporal resolution in living cells. In particular, biosensors based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) are among the most versatile and widely used probes for investigating the dynamic, spatiotemporal regulation of enzymatic activities in the native biological context. Yet the transformative potential of these genetically encoded molecular tools is constrained by their generally low dynamic ranges, which limits their sensitivity in more physiologically and clinically relevant settings (i.e., in vivo ). We have developed and optimized a novel class of genetically encoded enzyme activity biosensors whose dynamic ranges exceed those of even the best‐performing FRET‐based activity reporters by several decades and are easily the highest ever reported for genetically encoded enzyme activity reporters. These high‐performance molecular tools permit the robust, sensitive detection of subtle activity changes in vivo and thus further expand the frontiers of “native biochemistry”. Support or Funding Information This work was supported by Brain Initiative Grant R01 MH111516 and by R35 CA197622, R01 DK073368, and R01 GM111665 (to J.Z.). This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .