F-Tractin is a cellular probe for filamentous actin. It consists of a portion of the amino terminal actin binding region of the rat protein
ITPKA, usually fused to a reporter such as
green fluorescent protein
The green fluorescent protein (GFP) is a protein that exhibits green fluorescence when exposed to light in the blue to ultraviolet range. The label ''GFP'' traditionally refers to the protein first isolated from the jellyfish ''Aequorea victo ...
. Initial studies determined that amino acids 9-52 from the rat ITPKA were useful as a live-cell reporter for actin filaments. Later studies determined that amino acids 9-40 were sufficient for F-actin binding.
F-Tractin is one of a number of F-actin probes useful in live cell imaging.
References
Actin-based structures
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