Genetically Incorporable, Tryptophan-Based Cyan Fluorescent Amino Acid for Protein Spectroscopy and Microscopy.
- 1Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
- 2Life Sciences Institute, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
- 3Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Center for Oncology Medicine, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, and International School of Medicine, International Institutes of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Yiwu 322000, China.
Abstract
6-acetyl-L-tryptophan (6Ac-Trp) was synthesized as a tryptophan (Trp) analog with an absorption spectrum extending to ca. 400 nm, an emission spectrum spanning the blue-to-green visible region. Its fluorescence quantum yield is environment-sensitive (i.e., ca. 0.54 in water and <0.01 in hydrophobic solvents). A highly active synthetase was evolved for site-specific incorporation of 6Ac-Trp into proteins in both Escherichia coli and mammalian cells. Moreover, the utility of 6Ac-Trp was demonstrated by two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy imaging of cell-penetrating peptide distributions in live HeLa cells and nuclear localization of histone H3 in HEK293T cells. Given its structural similarity to tryptophan, compatibility with chemical peptide synthesis, and genetic encoding, 6Ac-Trp provides a useful minimal fluorophore for site-specific studies of protein dynamics, interactions, and localization in complex biological systems.
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BibTeX
@article{song2026genetically,
title = {{Genetically Incorporable, Tryptophan-Based Cyan Fluorescent Amino Acid for Protein Spectroscopy and Microscopy.}},
author = {Zheyu Song and Leiting Wei and Yuyao Yang and Ran-Ran Feng and Shixian Lin and Wenlong Ding and Feng Gai},
journal = {JACS Au},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1021/jacsau.6c00943},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953181},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Genetically Incorporable, Tryptophan-Based Cyan Fluorescent Amino Acid for Protein Spectroscopy and Microscopy.
AU - Zheyu Song
AU - Leiting Wei
AU - Yuyao Yang
AU - Ran-Ran Feng
AU - Shixian Lin
AU - Wenlong Ding
AU - Feng Gai
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/19
JO - JACS Au
DO - 10.1021/jacsau.6c00943
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953181
AB - 6-acetyl-L-tryptophan (6Ac-Trp) was synthesized as a tryptophan (Trp) analog with an absorption spectrum extending to ca. 400 nm, an emission spectrum spanning the blue-to-green visible region. Its fluorescence quantum yield is environment-sensitive (i.e., ca. 0.54 in water and <0.01 in hydrophobic solvents). A highly active synthetase was evolved for site-specific incorporation of 6Ac-Trp into proteins in both Escherichia coli and mammalian cells. Moreover, the utility of 6Ac-Trp was demonstrated by two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy imaging of cell-penetrating peptide distributions in live HeLa cells and nuclear localization of histone H3 in HEK293T cells. Given its structural similarity to tryptophan, compatibility with chemical peptide synthesis, and genetic encoding, 6Ac-Trp provides a useful minimal fluorophore for site-specific studies of protein dynamics, interactions, and localization in complex biological systems.
SN - 2691-3704
ER -