Optimization of mNeonGreen for Homo sapiens increases its fluorescent intensity in mammalian cells

PLoS One. 2018 Jan 17;13(1):e0191108. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191108. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) is tremendously useful for investigating many cellular and intracellular events. The monomeric GFP mNeonGreen is about 3- to 5-times brighter than GFP and monomeric enhanced GFP and shows high photostability. The maturation half-time of mNeonGreen is about 3-fold faster than that of monomeric enhanced GFP. However, the cDNA sequence encoding mNeonGreen contains some codons that are rarely used in Homo sapiens. For better expression of mNeonGreen in human cells, we synthesized a human-optimized cDNA encoding mNeonGreen and generated an expression plasmid for humanized mNeonGreen under the control of the cytomegalovirus promoter. The resultant plasmid was introduced into HEK293 cells. The fluorescent intensity of humanized mNeonGreen was about 1.4-fold higher than that of the original mNeonGreen. The humanized mNeonGreen with a mitochondria-targeting signal showed mitochondrial distribution of mNeonGreen. We further generated an expression vector of humanized mNeonGreen with 3xFLAG tags at its carboxyl terminus as these tags are useful for immunological analyses. The 3xFLAG-tagged mNeonGreen was recognized well with an anti-FLAG-M2 antibody. These plasmids for the expression of humanized mNeonGreen and mNeonGreen-3xFLAG are useful tools for biological studies in mammalian cells using mNeonGreen.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • COS Cells
  • Chlorocebus aethiops
  • Codon
  • Coloring Agents / metabolism*
  • DNA / biosynthesis
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / metabolism*
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Mitochondria / metabolism
  • Plasmids

Substances

  • Codon
  • Coloring Agents
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • DNA

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS KAKENHI 15K12749)(https://www.jsps.go.jp/j-grantsinaid/) to Isei Tanida, a grant from the Institute for Environmental & Gender-Specific Medicine at Juntendo University (http://www.juntendo.ac.jp/english/department/gra/gender_specific_medicine/) to Isei Tanida, and the Research Institute for Diseases of Old Age at the Juntendo University School of Medicine (http://www.juntendo.ac.jp/english/department/gra/diseases_old_age/) to Isei Tanida. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.