Shedding Light on Cell Signaling: Interpretation of FRET Biosensors

Frédérique Gaits and Klaus Hahn^*

Department of Cell Biology, Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.

Summary: This Perspective compares recently developed approaches for studying live-cell signaling dynamics. It is now possible not only to study the changing localizations of proteins within living cells but to correlate these dynamics with quantitation of protein activities, including ligand interactions and phosphorylation. Initial applications of an increasingly varied toolchest of techniques have revealed strengths and weaknesses in each approach, clarifying which tool is best for which job.

*Corresponding author. Telephone, 619-784-8725; fax, 619-554-8766; e-mail, khahn{at}scripps.edu

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