Isomerization in fluorescent protein chromophores involves addition/elimination

Jian Dong1, Fardokht Abulwerdi, Anthony Baldridge

  • 1School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 901 Atlantic Drive; Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, USA.

Summary

The green fluorescent protein (GFP) chromophore’s thermal reversion is surprisingly fast due to a novel nucleophilic addition/elimination mechanism, not just low activation energy. This finding impacts understanding of fluorescent protein function and blinking.

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