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Rabbit Kidney Cells with mEmerald-MAP4 and mCherry-H2B

Microtubule-associated protein 4 is a protein that is encoded by the MAP4 gene in humans. MAP4 is a major non-neuronal microtubule-associated protein. Its domain is comparable to microtubule-binding domains of neuronal microtubule-associated protein MAP2 and microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT/TAU). The extensive cellular network of microtubules is visible in relation to the nucleus in this digital video sequence. Microtubules present in cultured rabbit kidney epithelial cells (RK-13 line) were fluorescently tagged with mEmerald fused to a microtubule-associated protein, MAP4.

The green fluorescent protein mEmerald is an improved variant of EGFP, which is itself an enhanced version of GFP initially isolated from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria. Both the intrinsic brightness and photostability of mEmerald are superior to that of EGFP, but the newer fluorescent protein does contain a fast photobleaching component that can be problematic in some applications. mCherry is a red fluorescent protein from the mFruit series of proteins produced via the directed evolution of mRFP1. The monomeric mRFP1 protein is an engineered mutant of Discosoma striata RFP.