Official Project Description
Super-Charged Fluorescent Protein Design Rare earth elements play vital roles in various biological processes, and their detection using fluorescent proteins could advance biomedical research and diagnostics.
By developing more sensitive and specific sensors for rare earth elements, this project could contribute to the early detection of diseases, such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders, where abnormal levels of certain elements are often observed.
Moreover, the enhanced understanding of binding mechanisms between fluorescent proteins and rare earth elements could lead to the development of novel therapeutic agents or drug delivery systems tailored to target specific cellular pathways or tissues, thereby potentially improving treatment outcomes and patient well-being.
This project aims to investigate the binding mechanism of supercharged fluorescent proteins for capturing rare earth elements and then design a new variant of fluorescent protein that exhibits stronger binding affinity for specific rare earth elements than existing fluorescent proteins.
In this project, there are 100 double mutant systems of yellow fluorescent protein with a negative charge of 31.