Article
Plant Sciences
Rainer Waadt, Joerg Kudla, Hannes Kollist
Summary: Understanding plant physiology at the organismic scale involves analyzing biological processes down to the cellular and molecular levels. Fluorescent protein (FP) technology allows for direct monitoring of various cellular dynamics in plants, and multiplexing techniques enable simultaneous recording of multiple biological processes.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Vera S. Ovechkina, Suren M. Zakian, Sergey P. Medvedev, Kamila R. Valetdinova
Summary: Genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors allow visualization of biological processes in real time, providing benefits such as monitoring drug action and screening at the single-cell resolution. Research aims to improve biomedical applications by exploring their potential and addressing challenges.
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Namdoo Kim, Seunghan Shin, Se Won Bae
Summary: cAMP serves a crucial role in signal transduction pathways, with research focusing on its dynamics leading to insights for drug development and disease treatment. To enable real-time non-invasive imaging, genetically-encoded sensors based on fluorescent proteins and luciferases have been developed as powerful tools.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
David Stellon, Jana Talbot, Alex W. W. Hewitt, Anna E. E. King, Anthony L. L. Cook
Summary: Neurodegenerative diseases lead to progressive loss of neuronal structure and function, causing cell death and irreversible brain atrophy. While the mechanisms of neurodegeneration are still unknown, genetically encodable fluorescent biosensors (GEFBs) offer a unique way to study disease mechanisms and identify new therapies when combined with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Minji Wang, Yifan Da, Yang Tian
Summary: Genetically encoded fluorescent sensors are powerful tools for visualizing physiological processes in living cells and animals. This study reviews the history and structural basis of fluorescent proteins and discusses the design of genetically encoded biosensors. Several major types of genetically encoded biosensors currently used are also briefly reviewed, providing insight for future fluorescent biosensor design.
CHEMICAL SOCIETY REVIEWS
(2023)
Review
Cell Biology
Hyunbin Kim, In-Yeop Baek, Jihye Seong
Summary: This review introduces genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors that can precisely monitor the real-time activation process of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in live cells. These sensors allow observation of the activation process of GPCRs, including the binding of extracellular ligands, conformational changes of GPCRs, recruitment of G proteins or beta-arrestin, internalization and trafficking of GPCRs, and downstream signaling events associated with GPCRs.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Developmental Biology
Akinobu Nakamura, Yuhei Goto, Yohei Kondo, Kazuhiro Aoki
Summary: This review provides an overview of the use of genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors for visualizing ERK activity in live cells, as well as their applications in developmental studies of model organisms. It discusses the current understanding of how ERK dynamics are encoded and decoded for cell fate decision-making.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yusuke Nasu, Ciaran Murphy-Royal, Yurong Wen, Jordan N. Haidey, Rosana S. Molina, Abhi Aggarwal, Shuce Zhang, Yuki Kamijo, Marie-Eve Paquet, Kaspar Podgorski, Mikhail Drobizhev, Jaideep S. Bains, M. Joanne Lemieux, Grant R. Gordon, Robert E. Campbell
Summary: L-Lactate, traditionally considered a metabolic waste product, is now recognized as an important intercellular energy currency in mammals. A genetically encoded biosensor called eLACCO1.1 has been developed to enable cellular resolution imaging of extracellular L-lactate in cultured mammalian cells and brain tissue.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Xiaoke Bi, Connor Beck, Yiyang Gong
Summary: Genetically encoded fluorescent indicators, combined with optical imaging, have improved the detection of physiologically or behaviorally relevant neural activity with high spatiotemporal resolution. Protein engineering and screening strategies have enhanced the properties of genetically encoded fluorescent indicators, detecting neurotransmitter and calcium dynamics with high signal-to-noise ratio both in vitro and in vivo.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Michael Rappleye, Sarah J. Wait, Justin Daho Lee, Jamison C. Siebart, Lily Torp, Netta Smith, Jeanot Muster, Kenneth A. Matreyek, Douglas M. Fowler, Andre Berndt
Summary: Researchers have developed a high-throughput engineering platform called Opto-MASS that can test thousands of genetically encoded fluorescent indicators (GEFIs) variants in parallel in mammalian cells. They demonstrated the effectiveness of this system by rapidly engineering new sensors with distinct biophysical properties and significantly shortening the optimization time.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Salma Saeed Khan, Yi Shen, Muhammad Qaiser Fatmi, Robert E. Campbell, Habib Bokhari
Summary: Genetically encoded biosensors based on engineered fluorescent proteins play a key role in monitoring specific ions and molecules in biological systems, with the potential to detect highly toxic arsenic ions. The development of prototype arsenic biosensors using a bacterial transcription factor scaffold opens up possibilities for improved performance in detecting As3+ in various biological and environmental systems.
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Hyunbin Kim, Jeongmin Ju, Hae Nim Lee, Hyeyeon Chun, Jihye Seong
Summary: Genetically encoded biosensors based on fluorescent proteins enable real-time monitoring of molecular dynamics, requiring different sensing strategies depending on the molecular events being monitored. Understanding principles and critical factors of each strategy is essential for successful development of new biosensors.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Charlotte Kayser, Barbora Melkes, Cecile Derieux, Andreas Bock
Summary: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are cell membrane proteins activated by ligands, making them crucial drug targets. GPCRs can adopt different active conformations, stimulating various intracellular G proteins and other transducers to modulate second messenger levels and elicit receptor-specific cell responses. However, the molecular principles governing spatiotemporal GPCR signaling and its role in disease remain incompletely understood.
CURRENT OPINION IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Cong Quang Vu, Satoshi Arai
Summary: Genetically encoded fluorescence lifetime biosensors provide a powerful tool for quantitative imaging, enabling precise measurement of cellular metabolites, molecular interactions, and dynamic cellular processes. This review gives an overview of the principles, applications, and advancements in quantitative imaging with genetically encoded fluorescence lifetime biosensors using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (go-FLIM), highlighting the distinct advantages of fluorescence lifetime-based measurements.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Aleksandra Arsic, Cathleen Hagemann, Nevena Stajkovic, Timm Schubert, Ivana Nikic-Spiegel
Summary: This study establishes click labeling in living neurons and demonstrates its application in microscopy research of neurofilament light chain (NFL). The combination of click labeling with CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering allows for tagging endogenous NFL. Due to its versatility and compatibility with advanced microscopy techniques, click labeling is expected to contribute to novel discoveries in the field of neurobiology.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yongcheng Wang, Yu Teng, Hong Yang, Xiang Li, Dali Yin, Yulin Tian
Summary: A series of naphthalimide-tetrazines were developed as bioorthogonal fluorogenic probes, which showed significant fluorescence enhancement, notable aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characters, and multicolor emissions after reacting with strained dienophiles. Manipulation of the pi-bridge in the fluorophore skeleton allows for fine-tuning of emission wavelength and impacts AIE-active properties. These probes enabled successful no-wash fluorogenic protein labeling and mitochondria-selective bioorthogonal imaging in live cells.
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yu Teng, Hong Yang, Xiang Li, Yongcheng Wang, Dali Yin, Yulin Tian
Summary: A novel fluorescent strategy was designed using a nitrone-modified 1,8-naphthalimide as a bioorthogonal-activated turn-on probe based on strain-promoted alkyne-nitrone cycloaddition. The resulting fluorescent rearrangement products displayed significant fluorescence enhancement, large stokes shift, and high fluorescence quantum yield, and were successfully applied for protein labeling and live cell mitochondrial visualization.
CHINESE JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Jinchang Zhu, Li-Heng Cai
Summary: All-aqueous printing of viscoelastic droplets (aaPVD) is a core technology in voxelated bioprinting for creating functional tissue mimics using digital assembly of spherical bio-ink particles (DASP). However, the mechanism of aaPVD is largely unknown.
ACTA BIOMATERIALIA
(2023)
Article
Biology
Dylan J. Meyer, Carlos Manlio Diaz-Garcia, Nidhi Nathwani, Mahia Rahman, Gary Yellen
Summary: The activation of neuronal glycolysis is mainly a response to an increase in Na+/K+ pump activity, which is strongly potentiated by the influx of Na+ through the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger during the extrusion of Ca2+.
Article
Polymer Science
Shifeng Nian, Baiqiang Huang, Guillaume Freychet, Mikhail Zhernenkov, Li-Heng Cai
Summary: Bottlebrush molecules are branched polymers with a densely grafted linear backbone. Contrary to existing understanding, the interbackbone distance in bottlebrush polymers increases as the grafting density of side chains decreases. This discovery provides a paradigm-shifting understanding of the molecular structure of bottlebrush polymers.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Margarete Diaz-Cuadros, Teemu P. Miettinen, Owen S. Skinner, Dylan Sheedy, Carlos Manlio Diaz-Garcia, Svetlana Gapon, Alexis Hubaud, Gary Yellen, Scott R. Manalis, William M. Oldham, Olivier Pourquie
Summary: Animals display inter-species variation in embryonic development rates, with differences in biochemical reaction rates being thought responsible for species-specific rates. This study establishes an in vitro system using pluripotent stem cells to simulate the twofold difference in developmental rates between mouse and human embryos. The mass-specific metabolic rates were found to scale with developmental rate, higher in mouse cells than in human cells. Manipulating metabolic rates could control developmental rate and have translational applications.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Muchun Niu, Wenjian Cao, Yongcheng Wang, Qiangyuan Zhu, Jiayi Luo, Baiping Wang, Hui Zheng, David A. Weitz, Chenghang Zong
Summary: The profiling of individual synapses reveals molecular heterogeneity, which is crucial for signal transmission and shows considerable morphological and electrophysiological heterogeneity. However, there is currently a lack of high-throughput methods to analyze the molecular heterogeneity among individual synapses.
NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dorothy Koveal
Summary: Genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors are used to measure chemical changes in single cells rapidly. These biosensors are mainly used in tracking neural activity and neurotransmitter release, but their use and data interpretation for studying brain metabolism pose challenges. Many biosensors are prone to interferences that can lead to ambiguous results. This review discusses current methods of biosensor quantitation, focusing on cellular interferences, methods to avoid false inferences, and recent advances in sensor optimization.
JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Margarete Diaz-Cuadros, Teemu P. Miettinen, Owen S. Skinner, Dylan Sheedy, Carlos Manlio Diaz-Garcia, Svetlana Gapon, Alexis Hubaud, Gary Yellen, Scott R. Manalis, William M. Oldham, Olivier Pourquie
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Shifeng Nian, Shalin Patil, Siteng Zhang, Myoeum Kim, Quan Chen, Mikhail Zhernenkov, Ting Ge, Shiwang Cheng, Li-Heng Cai
Summary: This study finds that associative polymers with reversible bonds significantly slow down polymer dynamics while hardly changing the shape of the linear viscoelastic spectra.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Xuekai Tian, Dong Li, Xin Zhao, Zitong Xiao, Jingchun Sun, Tiantian Yuan, Yongcheng Wang, Xinhui Zuo, Gongshe Yang, Taiyong Yu
Summary: Grape pomace, as a new source of pig feed, was found to improve meat quality, alleviate inflammation, and decrease oxidative stress.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Elisa M. York, Anne Miller, Sylwia A. Stopka, Juan Ramon Martinez-Francois, Md Amin Hossain, Gerard Baquer, Michael S. Regan, Nathalie Y. R. Agar, Gary Yellen
Summary: The metabolic demands of neuronal activity are dynamic, and disruptions in fuel and oxygen supply can affect neurons. Glucose is considered a necessary fuel for brain metabolism, but the contribution of alternative fuels is debated. Differential fuel metabolism depends on cell type, location, and activity state. Mass spectrometry imaging was used to study the fuel metabolism of dentate granule cells in murine hippocampal slices, revealing glucose as the primary fuel, but with contributions from lactate/pyruvate, beta HB, octanoate, and glutamine. Brief stimulation or fuel competition affected fuel metabolism.
JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Anne Miller, Elisa M. York, Sylwia A. Stopka, Juan Ramon Martinez-Francois, Md Amin Hossain, Gerard Baquer, Michael S. Regan, Nathalie Y. R. Agar, Gary Yellen
Summary: The study reveals that neuronal activity induces metabolic changes in neurons, including increased glycolytic activity and conversion of endogenous inosine. The purine nucleotide phosphorylase (PNP) reaction is crucial for the neuronal response to stimulation, and inhibition of PNP leads to energy impairment in neurons during recovery.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Zhengmin Tang, Feifei Lv, David Eun Reynolds, Shunji Zhang, Shufa Zheng, Jina Ko, Yu Chen, Yongcheng Wang
Summary: Efficiently detecting low-abundance protein biomarkers in small blood samples is a challenge in clinical and laboratory settings. A new centrifugal droplet digital protein detection technology, called CDPro, has been developed to overcome this challenge. CDPro achieves a limit of detection of femtomolar levels of target proteins using only sub-microliters of plasma, and combines centrifugal microdroplet generation with a bead-free digital immuno-PCR assay.