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Featured Products

   E2-Crimson — New • Bright • Fast-Maturing • Far Red
   mCherry Monoclonal Antibody — Now you can differentiate red fluorescent proteins
   Dendra2 — Track protein dynamics in real time

October 2009 - Fluorescent Proteins & Reporters

We understand that when you plan your imaging or reporter experiments, you want to find the best tools quickly and easily—but that can be challenging. Do you know your microscope’s specifications, but not which fluorescent proteins are within its range? Or perhaps the type of experiment you wish to do (FRET, in vivo imaging, etc.) but not which fluorescent proteins are ideally suited for the task? We’ve got you covered!
   -  20 fluorescent proteins in 6 distinct colors from far red to cyan 
   -  Bright fluorescence, proven photostability, fast detection 
   -  Well-tolerated by mammalian cells  
   -  Ideal for multiplex and multicolor analysis 
   -  Monitor gene expression in real time

Track Protein Dynamics with Dendra2

Dendra2 is a monomeric, green-to-red photoswitchable fluorescent protein which has been optimized for bright fluorescence both before and after photoswitching. It matures efficiently at 20 or 37°C, so it can be used in a wide range of experimental systems, from cultured mammalian cells to cold-blooded animals. Dendra2 has already been widely used in fields ranging from developmental biology and marine biology research to drug development. Applications include tracking protein migration, single-molecule imaging, and characterizing protein organization, behavior, and degradation.

Selected Dendra2 citations:

  1. Chudakov, D. M., et al. (2006) Traffic 7(10):1304–1310. Fast and precise protein tracking using repeated reversible photoactivation.
  2. Chudakov, D. M., et al. (2007) Nat Protoc. 2(8):2024–2032. Tracking intracellular protein movements using photoswitchable fluorescent proteins PS-CFP2 and Dendra2. 
  3. Chudakov, D. M., et al. (2007) Biotechniques.42(5):553, 555, 557 passim. Using photoactivatable fluorescent protein Dendra2 to track protein movement.
  4. Gould, T. J., et al. (2008) Nat. Methods. 5(12):1027–1030. Nanoscale imaging of molecular positions and anisotropies. 
  5. Gurskaya, N. G., et al. (2006) Nat. Biotechnol. 24(4):461–465. Engineering of a monomeric green-to-red photoactivatable fluorescent protein induced by blue light.
  6. Hirayama, S., et al. (2008) Mol. Biol. Cell. 19(3):899–911. MKKS Is a Centrosome-shuttling Protein Degraded by Disease-causing Mutations via CHIP-mediated Ubiquitination.
  7. Jollivet, F., et al. (2007) Mol. Biol. Cell. 18(11):4637–4647. Analysis of de novo Golgi complex formation after enzyme-based inactivation.
  8. Mocz, G. (2007) Mar. Biotechnol. 9(3):305–328. Fluorescent proteins and their use in marine biosciences, biotechnology, and proteomics.
  9. Morimoto, A., et al. (2008) Micron. 39(5):635–638. Visualization of mitotic HeLa cells by advanced polarized light microscopy.
  10. Smith, C. (2007) Nat. Methods. 4(9):755–760. Keeping tabs on fluorescent tags.
  11. Stark, D. A., et al. (2008) CSH Protocols. doi:10.1101/pdb.prot4975. Photoactivation cell labeling for cell tracing in avian development.
  12. Wolff, M., et al. (2006) Drug Discov. Today. 11(23-24):1054–1060. Novel fluorescent proteins for high-content screening.
  13. Zhang, L., et al. (2007) Biotechniques 42(4):446, 448, 450. Method for real-time monitoring of protein degradation at the single cell level.

Download the Dendra2 protocol

Whole-cell labeling with Dendra2. HEK293 Phoenix Eco cells were transiently transfected with Dendra2 gene under the control of CMV promoter. Dendra2 was converted to the red state in selected cells by brief illumination with 405 nm (lower left cell) or 488 nm (middle and upper right cells) lasers. Confocal images were taken in the green and red channels and overlaid.

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