GE Healthcare UK Awarded US Patent

The patent provides novel engineered derivatives of green fluorescent protein that have an amino acid sequence that is modified by amino acid substitution compared with the amino acid sequence of wild-type green fluorescent  protein (SEQ ID NO: 2), its abstract said. The modified GFPs exhibit enhanced fluorescence relative to wild-type GFP when expressed in non-homologous cells at temperatures above 30° C, and when excited at about 490 nm. According to the patent abstract, the modified GFPs provide a means for detecting GFP reporters in mammalian cells at lower levels of expression and/or increased sensitivity relative to wild-type GFP. This greatly improves the usefulness of fluorescent proteins in studying cellular functions in living cells, according to the inventors.