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CTP
– Colour-Tag-Protein
The
Colour-Tag-Protein CTP exhibits an intensive yellow colour
because it contains FAD. Modifications by genetechnology
resulted in interesting new colour variants that allow new
applications for protein expression, purification, screening,
chip technology and analytic methods. The unique stability of
CTP, its high solubility and the compact structure of the
colour domain (only about 100 amino acids) are ideal for new
applications. A new patent for CTP secures the commercial
development.
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Domain-structure of wild-type CTP.
Applications
for CTP
1. Fusion
proteins
One basic application of CTP is as a colour-tag of fusion
proteins for simple and efficient purification. Therefore CTP
can serve as a platform for automated processes with high
throughput. The high solubility of CTP improves also the
solubility of the fusion protein. Even in the first cell
extract one can easily determine the protein concentration of
CTP via the optical density at 460 nm. Protein gels are no
longer necessary. The short CTP domain of about 100 amino
acids minimizes negative effects for the fusion protein.
2.
Redox-Indicator
Usually wild-type CTP immediately regenerates FAD by oxygen
from air. The change of specific amino acids in CTP arrests
the redox state of the FAD. In contrat, the variants of CTP
depend on specific redox substrates to change the redox state.
Thereby changes in the redox state are coupled with colour
changes.
3. Bio-Chip-Technology
The high stability and the electro-chemical properties of
CTP allow applications in Bio-Chips for automated detection
and analysis of substrates and their redox states.
4.
Semi-Conductor applications
The electro-chemical properties of CTP and its variants allow
possible applications in nano-technologies. Application of an
external currency changes the redox state and the colour of
CTP. This allows information processing by light in the range
from 300 to 600 nm.
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