Biliverdin Reductase-A Deficiency Brighten and Sensitize Biliverdin-binding Chromoproteins.

ABSTRACT: Tissue absorbance, light scattering, and autofluorescence are significantly lower in the near-infrared (NIR) range than in the visible range. Because of these advantages, NIR fluorescent proteins (FPs) are in high demand for in vivo imaging. Nevertheless, application of NIR FPs such as iRFP is still limited due to their dimness in mammalian cells. In contrast to GFP and its variants, iRFP requires biliverdin (BV) as a chromophore. The dimness of iRFP is at least partly due to rapid reduction of BV by biliverdin reductase-A (BLVRA). Here, we established biliverdin reductase-a knockout (Blvra^-/-) mice to increase the intracellular BV concentration and, thereby, to enhance iRFP fluorescence intensity. As anticipated, iRFP fluorescence intensity was significantly increased in all ex

SUBMITTER: Kobachi K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10511041 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature