Techniques for studying protein trafficking and molecular motors in neurons

This review focused on techniques that facilitated the visualization of protein trafficking. In the mid-1990s the cloning of GFP allowed fluorescently tagged proteins to be expressed in cells and then visualized in real time. This advance allowed a glimpse, for the first time, of the complex system within cells for distributing proteins. It quickly became apparent, however, that time-lapse sequences of exogenously expressed GFP-labeled proteins can be difficult to interpret. Reasons for this include the relatively low signal that comes from moving proteins and high background rates from stationary proteins and other sources, as well as the difficulty of identifying the origins and destinations of specific vesicular carriers. In this review a range of techniques that have overcome these issues to varying degrees was reviewed and the insights into protein trafficking that they have enabled were discussed. Concentration will be on neurons, as they are highly polarized and, thus, their trafficking systems tend to be accessible for study. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.