Near-infrared fluorescent proteins engineered from bacterial phytochromes

• Published in: Current opinion in chemical biology 2015-08, Vol.27, p.52-63
• Main Authors: Shcherbakova, Daria M, Baloban, Mikhail, Verkhusha, Vladislav V
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Bacterial Proteins - chemistry; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Diagnostic Imaging - methods; Luminescent Proteins - chemistry; Luminescent Proteins - genetics; Phytochrome - chemistry; Phytochrome - genetics; Protein Engineering; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; Whole Body Imaging
• ISSN: 1367-5931; 1879-0402
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2015.06.005

•Available phenotypes and photochemical properties of near-infrared fluorescent proteins.•Applications of near-infrared fluorescent proteins in basic and translational research.•Performance of near-infrared fluorescent proteins in optical and hybrid imaging techniques. Near-infrared fluorescent proteins (NIR FPs), photoactivatable NIR FPs and NIR reporters of protein–protein interactions developed from bacterial phytochrome photoreceptors (BphPs) have advanced non-invasive deep-tissue imaging. Here we provide a brief guide to the BphP-derived NIR probes with an emphasis on their in vivo applications. We describe phenotypes of NIR FPs and their photochemical and intracellular properties. We discuss NIR FP applications for imaging of various cell types, tissues and animal models in basic and translational research. In this discussion, we focus on NIR FPs that efficiently incorporate endogenous biliverdin chromophore and therefore can be used as straightforward as GFP-like proteins. We also overview a usage of NIR FPs in different imaging platforms, from planar epifluorescence to tomographic and photoacoustic technologies.