We have employed a new approach to generate novel fluorescent proteins (FPs) from red absorbing chromoproteins. An identical single amino acid substitution converted novel chromoproteins from the species Anthozoa (Heteractis crispa, Condylactis gigantea, and Goniopora tenuidens) into far-red FPs (emission V V max = 615^640 nm). Moreover, coupled site-directed and random mutagenesis of the chromoprotein from H. crispa resulted in a unique far-red FP (HcRed) that exhibited bright emission at 645 nm. A clear red shift in fluorescence of HcRed, compared to drFP583 (by more than 60 nm), makes it an ideal additional color for multi-color labeling. Importantly, HcRed is excitable by 600 nm dye laser, thus promoting new detection channels for multi-color flow cytometry applications. In addition, we generated a dimeric mutant with similar maturation and spectral properties to tetrameric HcRed. ß 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

KillerRed is the only known fluorescent protein that demonstrates notable phototoxicity, exceeding that of the other green and red fluorescent proteins by at least 1,000-fold. KillerRed could serve as an instrument to inactivate target proteins or to kill cell populations in photodynamic therapy. However, the nature of KillerRed phototoxicity has remained unclear, impeding the development of more phototoxic variants. Here we present the results of a high resolution crystallographic study of KillerRed in the active fluorescent and in the photobleached non-fluorescent states. A unique and striking feature of the structure is a waterfilled channel reaching the chromophore area from the end cap of the ␤-barrel that is probably one of the key structural features responsible for phototoxicity. A study of the structure-function relationship of KillerRed, supported by structure-based, site-directed mutagenesis, has also revealed the key residues most likely responsible for the phototoxic effect. In particular, Glu 68 and Ser 119, located adjacent to the chromophore, have been assigned as the primary trigger of the reaction chain. The green fluorescent protein (GFP)2 and related proteins have become efficient noninvasive tools in cell biology and biomedicine for visualizing and monitoring the internal processes within cells or whole organisms (1-8). The multicolor labeling technologies, based on fluorescent proteins (FPs), have found important biomedical applications in the studies of various aspects of cancer, including primary tumor growth, tumor cell motility and invasion, metastatic seeding, colonization, and angiogenesis (9 -11).The recent development of the first genetically encoded photosensitizer, KillerRed (SWISS-PROT/TrEMBL data base sequence ID Q2TCH5), a highly phototoxic red fluorescent protein (12, 13), opened a new area of FP application. KillerRed is a red fluorescent protein characterized by excitation and emission maxima at 585 and 610 nm, respectively. This genetic variant was engineered from non-fluorescent and non-phototoxic chromoprotein anm2CP from Hydrozoa jellyfish (sequence ID Q6RYS4). Upon irradiation by green light at the wavelength of 520 -590 nm, KillerRed generates the reactive oxygen species (ROS), accompanied by profound self photobleaching. The ROS-induced phototoxicity of KillerRed is at least 3 orders of magnitude higher than that of other fluorescent proteins exhibiting low background phototoxicity (12). Such a unique property of KillerRed could find use in light-induced inactivation of target proteins and in precise cell killing. Unlike chemical photosensitizers, KillerRed can be directly expressed by a target cell, both individually and in fusion with a target protein. The most exciting future application of KillerRed may be in photodynamic therapy of cancer. This phototoxic agent, precisely delivered to solid tumors by a viral vector, could serve as an intrinsically generated photosensitizer, causing light-induced tumor destruction. Therefore, understanding the relationship between...

Proteins homologous to green fluorescent protein (GFP) span most of the visible spectrum, offering indispensable tools for live cell imaging. Structural transformations, such as posttranslational autocatalytic and photo-induced modifications, chromophore isomerization, and rearrangements in its environment underlie the unique capacity of these proteins to tune their own optical characteristics. A better understanding of optical self-tuning mechanisms would assist in the engineering of more precisely adapted variants and in expanding the palette of GFP-like proteins to the near-infrared region. The latest advances in this field shed light upon multiple features of protein posttranslational chemistry, and establish some important basic principles about the interplay of structure and spectral properties in the GFP family.

A model compound for the chromophore within the purple nonfluorescent GFP-like chromoprotein asFP595 was synthesized. The postulated structure of the chromophore, 2-acetyl-4-(p-hydroxybenzylidene)-1-methyl-5-imidazolone, was taken from the high-resolution crystal structure analysis of intact asFP595 [Quillin, M. L., Anstrom, D., Shu, X., O'Leary, S., Kallio, K., Lukyanov, K. A., and Remington, S. J. (2005) Kindling Fluorescent Protein from Anemonia sulcata: Dark-State Structure at 1.38 A Resolution, Biochemistry 44, 5774-5787]. Erlenmeyer lactonization and oxidation of the methylene group attached to the heteroaromatic moiety with selenium dioxide were used at the key stages of the synthesis. The spectral properties of the model chromophore in solution and their dependence on the pH and polarity of the solvent were investigated. In water, the chromophore was found to exist in two forms, neutral and anionic, with a pK(a) of 7.1. In a dimethylformamide solution, the spectral properties of the anionic form closely match those of the native protein, demonstrating that under these conditions, the compound is an excellent model for the chromophore within native asFP595.