Main description:

Fluorescent proteins are intimately connected to research in the life sciences. Tagging of gene products with fluorescent proteins has revolutionized all areas of biosciences, ranging from fundamental biochemistry to clinical oncology, to environmental research. The discovery of the Green Fluorescent Protein, its first, seminal application and the ingenious development of a broad palette of fluorescence proteins of other colours, was consequently recognised with the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2008.

Fluorescent Proteins I is devoted to the basic photophysical and photochemical aspects of fluorescent protein technology. Experienced experts highlight colour tuning, the exploration of switching phenomena and respective methods for their investigation. The book provides a thorough understanding of primary molecular processes allowing the design of fluorescent proteins for specific applications.

Contents:

Part I. Basics and Manipulation of Light-Matter Interaction in Fluorescent Proteins

One-Photon and Two-Photon Excitation of Fluorescent Proteins (Riccardo Nifosi)

Primary Photophysical Processes in Chromoproteins (Steven Meech)

Fluorescence Lifetime of Fluorescent Proteins (Gregor Jung)

Synthetic Biology of Autofluorescent Proteins (Nediljko Budisa)

Part II. Switching on the Molecular Level

Vibrational spectroscopy: a tool to investigate the structure of the chromophore and its environment (Stefano Luin)

Proton Travel in Green Fluorescent Protein (Volkhard Helms)

Photoconversion of the Green Fluorescent Protein and Related Proteins (Jasper van Thor)

Spectral Versatility of Fluorescent Proteins Observed on the Single Molecule Level (Christian Blum)

Structure-Function Relationships in Fluorescent Marker Proteins of the Green Fluorescent Protein Family (Ulrich Nienhaus)