Fluorescent Proteins
Why Choose Us?
Allele Biotechnology first started offering fluorescent proteins in 2006 with one guiding principle, to offer the brightest, truly monomeric fluorescent proteins that enable emerging imaging technologies and research methods. All of our proteins are fully characterized, with their properties and developments described in their respective publications. The publications also highlight the exemplary properties of each protein (Brightness, Photostablity, Conversion Efficiency etc.) and how these properties aid in various applications (FRET, SIM, PALM/STORM etc.). Allele's scientific team has over 15 years of experience in the fluorescent protein field, with prominent researchers who have contributed to the development of many widely used FPs. Each of Allele's fluorescent proteins is developed and supported by this team, giving you access to a wealth of knowledge. Our proteins have also been adapted for a wide variety of applications, we carry viral vectors, organelle markers, bicistronic expression plasmids, and much more. With our new licensing models, these options are all available to you for one low cost, saving you time, money, and enabling your research.
What are Fluorescent Proteins
With the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the value of the discovery and development of fluorescent proteins (FPs) has been well recognized and appreciated. However, the research on FPs has not reached its utmost potential. Instead, there have been relentless endeavors to find the "perfect" FPs since their discovery just over a decade ago. Bright, photostable, monomeric, and fast-maturing FPs are being sought in all spectral regions. Those that work well as fusions or in fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) see ever-increasing use as molecular markers or rulers. Recently the emergence of novel microscopy techniques that can image with resolutions of ~10nm have further emphasized the importance of fluorescent protein advancement. These new techniques, PALM for Photoactivated Localization Microscopy and SIM for Structure-Illumination Microscopy, require advanced FPs called “photoactivable FPs” or “photoswitchable FPs”.
Fluorescent Protein Publications
How Does Licensing Work?
With the release of our latest fluorescent protein mNeonGreen we have ushered in a new method for protein use, licensing. We had two main goals when we introduced this new model, simplicity and collaboration. Our goal is for licensees to freely share their work, and for licenses to be inexpensive and easy to obtain. We offer two distinct licensing option, group/site licensing, or single lab licenses. Group licensing allows a large numbes of users, like a unversity department, to obtain a license for each lab in that department for one very low cost. With this option an entire group can use the protein collectively and share their results and advancements with each other. This isn't practical in all cases, so we also offer individual lab licenses. Our individual licenses cost less than purchasing a plasmid from other fluorescent protein suppliers and they grant the purchasing lab full rights to use their licensed protein for basic research. To make things even easier we have set up a plasmid depository for constructs containing Allele Fluorescent Proteins. We take care of distributing your plasmids for you; we make the preps, get the MTA's, and handle the shipping. Additionally, if you have an advanced license or a group license you can request any plasmids from our depository at any time free of charge, we just ask that you cover shipping. We know it's a new model but we truly believe this is the best way to distribute fluorescent proteins, it's simple and encourages use and collaboration. So far it has been received well, we have a large active licenses list and it's growing everyday. But we understand you might still have questions, so feel free to send us a message or use our live chat, we're here to help. You can also check out our licensing page where we break things down a little more.
Superresolution Imaging
In 2008 Photo-activated Localization Microscopy (PALM) and Stochastic Optical Resconstrcution Microscopy (STORM) were featured as Methods of the Year in the journal Nature Methods. Since then the field of superresolution imaging has grown as a rapid pace, and a number of emerging technologies have helped further the advancement of this burgeoning field. We have created a superresolution portal that brings together various resources to help researcher make informed choices regarding their superresolution experiments. At Allele we are committed to providing resources and tools for superresolution imaging, like our fluorescent proteins mMaple and mNeonGreen, and our nano antibodies (nAb). Visit our Superresolution Tools page to see what we have to offer.
Timeline
In 2006 Allele Biotechnology began offering its first fluorescent protein, mTFP1, a teal fluorescent protein derived from Clavularia and monomerized through direct evolution. mWasabi, our truly monomeric green fluorescent protein, was derived from mTFP1 and released in 2008. The next major release was mClavGR2, our first photoconvertible fluorescent protein, with the ability to permanantly change from green to red when excited by a specific wavelength of light. In 2011 we released LanYFP and LanRFP, two natural protein derived from Brachistoma Lanciolatum, or lancelet fish. mNeonGreen, which we released in 2013, was a result of the directed evolution of LanYFP.
