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. 2015 Apr 24;2(2):ENEURO.0053-14.2015. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0053-14.2015

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer. In this FRET example, cyan fluorescent protein (CFP) acts as the donor and yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) as the acceptor. When the two fluorophores are separated by a considerable distance, exposing the sample to light with the excitation frequency for CFP results in an emission spectrum corresponding to CFP only, with no contribution from the acceptor (top). When the two fluorophores are nearby (typically in the range of 10 to 100 Å), exposing the sample to the same light results in a nonradiative energy transfer from CFP to the nearby YFP acceptor, causing YFP to emit at its emission frequency (bottom). At the same time, due to the transfer of energy, emission from CFP is considerably reduced. Detection of YFP emission indicates that fluorescence resonance energy transfer has occurred between the two fluorophores as a result of their close proximity. By fusing these fluorophores to the receptors of interest, dimerization can be implied if fluorescence resonance energy transfer is observed.