CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) are used as efficient Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) acceptors in a time-resolved immunoassays with Tb complexes as donors providing a long-lived luminescence decay. A detailed decay time analysis of the FRET process is presented. QD FRET sensitization is evidenced by a more than 1000-fold increase of the QD luminescence decay time reaching ca. 0...

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), referred to as the transfer of the photon energy absorbed in donor to acceptor, has received much attention as an important physical phenomenon for its potential applications in optoelectronic devices as well as for the understanding of some biological systems. If one-atom-thick graphene is used for donor or acceptor, it can minimize the separation betw...

We compare the accuracy of a variety of Fluorescence Fluctuation Spectroscopy (FFS) methods for the study of Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) assays. As an example, the cleavage of a doubly labeled, FRET-active peptide substrate by the protease Trypsin is monitored and analyzed using methods based on fluorescence intensity, Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) and Fluorescence In...

Development of an ultrasensitive biosensor for biological hazards in the environment is a major need for pollutant control and for the detection of biological warfare. Fluorescence methods combined with immunodiagnostic methods are the most common. To minimize background noise, arising from the unspecific adsorption effect, we have adapted the FRET (frequency resonance energy transfer) effect t...

Fluorescence imaging of cells and subcellular compartments is an essential tool to investigate biological processes and to evaluate the development and progression of diseases. In particular, protein-protein interactions can be monitored by Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between two proximal fluorophores that are attached to specific recognition biomolecules such as antibodies. We inv...

Apolipoprotein (apo) E4 is a major risk factor for Alzheimer disease. Although the mechanisms remain to be determined, the detrimental effects of apoE4 in neurobiology must be based on its unique structural and biophysical properties. One such property is domain interaction mediated by a salt bridge between Arg-61 in the N-terminal domain and Glu-255 in the C-terminal domain of apoE4. This inte...

1.2 Summary The Na-K-Cl cotransporter, NKCC1, is involved in the regulation of intracellular chloride concentration and cell volume. We have tagged both the N terminus and a non-conserved loop in the C terminus of shark NKCC1 with ECFP and EYFP and expressed these constructs in HEK cells. The constructs are fluorescent and correctly trafficked to the cell membrane. We show that NKCC1 with eithe...

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) microscopy is commonly used to measure distances between fluorophores or to qualitatively confirm interaction of proteins. Whereas multiple FRETing oligomerization states may be characterized clearly using single-molecule techniques, cellular applications suffer from wide and immeasurable variability in concentration of each species across pixels. S...

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) measurements from a donor, D, to an acceptor, A, fluorophore are frequently used in vitro and in live cells to reveal information on the structure and dynamics of DA labeled macromolecules. Accurate descriptions of FRET measurements by molecular models are complicated because the fluorophores are usually coupled to the macromolecule via flexible long lin...