27 Aug 2008

Nature Methods 5, 683 (2008). doi:10.1038/nmeth.1235

Authors: Hidekazu Tsutsui, Satoshi Karasawa, Yasushi Okamura & Atsushi Miyawaki

We used two new coral fluorescent proteins as fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) donor and acceptor to develop a voltage sensor, named Mermaid, that displays ∼40% changes in emission ratio per 100 mV, allowing for direct visualization of electrical activities in cultured excitable cells. Notably, Mermaid has fast on-off kinetics at warm (∼33 °C) temperatures and can report voltage spikes comparable to action potentials.

[From Improving membrane voltage measurements using FRET with new fluorescent proteins]