绿色荧光蛋白（GFP）的检测

GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein) is an extremely stable protein of 2 38 amino acids produced by the jellyfish Aequorea victoria1 that fl uoresces in the lower green region of the visible spectrum. Over th e past few years GFP has become one of the most widely used tools i n molecular and cell biology as the GFP gene can be expressed in no n-homologous species. Additionally, the fact that GFP can generate a highly visible fluorescence that requires no additional substrate s has made it valuable as a marker for gene expression, as a cell l ineage tracer or as an in vivo covalently attached fluorescent labe l replacing more invasive and unwieldy fluorescent staining techniq ues. GFP can be monitored non-invasively and may be used as a quant itative marker in living cells. GFP can also be used as a tag for studying real time localization and movement of protein-GFP chimera s within cells2.