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A new carefully optimized and characterized genetically encoded fluorescent sensor for cyclic GMP (cGMP) has fast kinetics and properties that should make it an excellent compromise between sensitivity and specificity when compared to existing sensors.
The short nature of microRNAs (miRNAs) has presented unique obstacles to experimental biologists. Two research papers in this issue of Nature Methods describe solutions to some of these problems and provide high-resolution data on the expression patterns of these tiny regulatory RNAs.
A new caging group based on the nitrodibenzofuran chromophore has been developed with improved photochemical properties for both ultraviolet and two-photon photolysis applications, providing a new tool for the rapid and efficient release of calcium ions for biological studies.
Pulsed electrical fields can be used to introduce DNA into a wide variety of animal cells1,2. Electroporation works well with cell lines that are refractive to other techniques, such as calcium phosphate–DNA coprecipitation. But as with other transfection methods, the optimal conditions for electroporation of untested cell lines must be determined experimentally.
