Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Martinsried, Germany.
Integr Biol (Camb). 2009 Sep;1(8-9):499-505. doi: 10.1039/b906870h. Epub 2009 Jun 23.
The repertoire of RNAs transcribed and processed within living cells is of extraordinary complexity. With new types of RNA being identified, the need for tools to investigate the spatio-temporal aspects of processing and trafficking of these molecules has become more evident. To visualize RNA in living cells, autofluorescent proteins (AFPs) appear as a promising alternative to synthetic fluorescent compound based labels. While current fluorescent protein-based RNA labelings have provided many new insights into the biology of RNA regulation, further improvements and adaptations are desirable to make AFP labels as valuable in the RNA world as they have proven to be for protein tagging. This article reviews the achievements and existing challenges in engineering AFPs as efficient RNA tags for high resolution fluorescence microscopy in living cells.
活细胞内转录和加工的 RNA 种类极其复杂。随着新型 RNA 的不断发现，人们需要工具来研究这些分子的加工和运输的时空方面，这一点变得更加明显。为了在活细胞中可视化 RNA，自发荧光蛋白 (AFP) 似乎是一种有前途的替代基于合成荧光化合物的标记物的方法。虽然目前基于荧光蛋白的 RNA 标记物为 RNA 调控的生物学提供了许多新的见解，但仍需要进一步的改进和适应，以使 AFP 标记物在 RNA 领域像在蛋白质标记中那样有价值。本文综述了将 AFP 工程化为活细胞高分辨率荧光显微镜中高效 RNA 标记物的成就和现存挑战。
