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Updated: Mar 8, 2026

Real-time Imaging of Single Engineered RNA Transcripts in Living Cells Using Ratiometric Bimolecular Beacons
Published on: August 6, 2014
Live Cell Imaging of Endogenous mRNA Using RNA-Based Fluorescence "Turn-On" Probe
Wei Qiang Ong1, Y Rose Citron2, Sayaka Sekine1
1Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco , San Francisco, California 94143, United States.
Abstract:
Messenger RNA (mRNA) plays a critical role in cellular growth and development. However, there have been limited methods available to visualize endogenous mRNA in living cells with ease. We have designed RNA-based fluorescence "turn-on" probes that target mRNA by fusing an unstable form of Spinach with target-complementary sequences. These probes have been demonstrated to be selective, stable, and capable of targeting various mRNAs for live E. coli imaging.
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