Nature Biotechnology 24, 95 - 99 (2005)
Published online: 20 December 2005; | doi:10.1038/nbt1175
A genetically encoded photosensitizerMaria E Bulina1, 3, Dmitriy M Chudakov1, 3, Olga V Britanova1, Yurii G Yanushevich1, Dmitry B Staroverov2, Tatyana V Chepurnykh2, Ekaterina M Merzlyak2, Maria A Shkrob1, Sergey Lukyanov1
& Konstantin A Lukyanov11
Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, Miklukho-Maklaya 16/10, Moscow 117997, Russia. 2
Evrogen JSC, Miklukho-Maklaya 16/10, Moscow 117997, Russia. 3
These authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence should be addressed to Konstantin A Lukyanov kluk@ibch.ru Photosensitizers are chromophores that generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) upon light irradiation1. They are used for inactivation of specific proteins by chromophore-assisted light inactivation (CALI) and for light-induced cell killing in photodynamic therapy. Here we report a genetically encoded photosensitizer, which we call KillerRed, developed from the hydrozoan chromoprotein anm2CP, a homolog of green fluorescent protein (GFP). KillerRed generates ROS upon irradiation with green light. Whereas known photosensitizers must be added to living systems exogenously, KillerRed is fully genetically encoded. We demonstrate the utility of KillerRed for light-induced killing of Escherichia coli and eukaryotic cells and for inactivating fusions to  -galactosidase and phospholipase C 1 pleckstrin homology domain.
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