Cherry-picking from Nature Methods

The august issue of Nature Methods seems very appetizing for any reporter-genomist. The following is only a personal cherry-picking from the table of contents.

A time stamp for proteins (doi:10.1038/nmeth0808-662a)

• A new protein tag simplifies labeling and visualization of newly synthesized target proteins in tissue and whole animals.

Improving membrane voltage measurements using FRET with new fluorescent proteins (doi:10.1038/nmeth.1235)

• Designing fluorescent protein-based sensors that display large changes in fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is challenging. Redesign of a FRET-based voltage sensor using new fluorescent proteins increased the sensor response to changes in membrane voltage and measurements at warmer temperatures displayed faster kinetics comparable to action potentials.

Detection of heteromerization of more than two proteins by sequential BRET-FRET (doi:10.1038/nmeth.1229)

• Many proteins, including G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs), interact to form oligomers at the cell surface. A combination of bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) in a technique called sequential resonance energy transfer (SRET) extends these methods to study higher-order oligomers of GPCRs or other proteins.

!!!If you wish to find reviews of any paper in the next Reportergene posts, just suggest it in the comments or in the submit page.