[ad_1]
Although light microscopy can be used to see the proteins move around the resolution is low, it is impossible to see the precise location of a protein. This can be overcome by using electron microscopy which gives higher resolution.
To allow proteins to be visualized by both microscopes and to correlate them, the research team developed a protein labeling method for both types of microscopes.
The marking is widely used and several labels are available, but they have disadvantages; some are not specific enough, or they do not work on unique proteins. To overcome this problem, Royle's lab created a new label and fused it with a fluorescent protein. Royle's team named the new FerriTag technique because it's based on ferritin that can be visualized under an electron microscope because iron scatters electrons
Royle says his lab needs to defeat another obstacle: "When ferritin is fused to a protein, with a slurry.So we modified ferritin so that it could be attached to the protein of interest using a drug
" That meant that we could put the FerriTag on the protein we want to image in seconds. "
What's cool about FerriTag is that it's genetically encoded. This means we get the cell to make the label itself and that we do not have to put it on the outside, which would damage the cell. "
Source: University of Warwick
[ad_2]
Source link
