FRET Microscopy
BOC Sciences stands out as a worldwide supplier of chemical and biotechnology products and delivers top-grade FRET pairs for FRET microscopy studies. The application of FRET technology extends across various fields such as biological imaging and cell signaling research while demanding exceptional fluorophore stability and labeling efficiency paired with precise spectral matching. BOC Sciences delivers diverse high-quality FRET donor-acceptor fluorophores through state-of-the-art synthesis methods and analytical tools while also providing custom labeling and optimization services to address various research requirements.
What is Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer?
Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) is a non-radiative energy transfer phenomenon in which the excitation energy of a donor fluorophore is transferred to an acceptor fluorophore through dipole-dipole interaction when the distance between the two fluorophores is in the range of 1-10 nanometers. This transfer causes the acceptor fluorophore to emit fluorescence. The efficiency of FRET is closely related to the distance, orientation, and spectral overlap between the donor and acceptor. FRET technology is widely used in biomedical research, such as protein-protein interactions, DNA-protein interactions, membrane receptor dimerization, enzyme activity detection, and dynamic monitoring of intracellular signaling. Through FRET, researchers can observe molecular interactions and conformational changes in real-time in live cells or in vitro environments, providing an important tool for understanding complex biological processes.
Core Technological Advantages of BOC Sciences
Advanced fluorophore synthesis and modification technologies
BOC Sciences designs and synthesizes fluorophore molecules with specific spectral properties based on experimental needs. Using precise organic synthesis and nanomaterial modification techniques, we ensure the high purity, long lifespan, and low background noise of fluorophores.High-precision spectral optimization
The key to FRET experiments lies in the spectral matching between donor and acceptor fluorophores. BOC Sciences uses high-resolution fluorescence spectroscopy to precisely measure the excitation and emission spectra of fluorophores, optimizing Förster distance (R₀) to improve energy transfer efficiency and ensure high experimental sensitivity.Efficient bioconjugation methods
BOC Sciences offers a range of optimized fluorophore labeling strategies, including NHS esters, maleimides, and azide-alkyne (Click Chemistry) reactions, enabling efficient and stable labeling of fluorophores onto antibodies, proteins, DNA, or nanoparticles while preserving the natural activity of biomolecules.Strict quality control system
All fluorophore products and labeling services undergo multiple tests, including UV-Vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, HPLC, and MS, to ensure product purity, photostability, and biocompatibility, meeting the demands of high-end scientific research and industrial applications.
High-Quality Fluorophores to Match Your Research Needs
BOC Sciences is dedicated to providing a variety of fluorophore products for FRET technology to meet different research requirements. Our product line includes organic fluorescent dyes, quantum dots, and fluorescent proteins, each with unique advantages and applications, offering high sensitivity, high stability, and high specificity support for FRET experiments.
Organic Fluorescent Dyes
Fluorescent Proteins
- Green Fluorescent Protein
- Yellow Fluorescent Protein
- Red Fluorescent Protein
- Cyan Fluorescent Protein
Quantum Dots
- CdSe/CdS Quantum Dots
- CdTe Quantum Dots
- InP Quantum Dots
- SiO2-Coated Quantum Dots
Explore Our Popular FRET Pair List
BOC Sciences offers a range of popular FRET pairs for FRET microscopy applications, widely used in the study of intracellular molecular interactions, protein folding, signal transduction, and other biological processes. Our carefully selected FRET pairs include commonly used green and red fluorescent probes that meet diverse experimental needs. These FRET pairs feature high spectral overlap and efficient energy transfer, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of experimental results. Additionally, the FRET pairs provided by BOC Sciences are suitable for a variety of excitation and emission wavelengths, supporting high-resolution microscopy imaging and real-time dynamic monitoring.
| Donor | Acceptor | Förster Critical Distance (R₀, nm) |
| FAM | TAMRA (Tetramethylrhodamine) | ~5.4 |
| GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein) | RFP (Red Fluorescent Protein) | ~6.2 |
| Alexa Fluor 488 | Alexa Fluor 594 | ~5.6 |
| Cy3 | Cy5 | ~5.0 |
| FITC | Texas Red | ~5.8 |
| BODIPY FL | BODIPY 650/665 | ~6.0 |
| GFP | mCherry | ~6.5 |
| DsRed | GFP | ~6.0 |
| Cy3B | Cy5 | ~5.2 |
| GFP | mPlum | ~6.0 |
| Alexa Fluor 488 | Alexa Fluor 647 | ~6.3 |
| GFP | RFP | ~5.5 |
| Bodipy 530 | Bodipy 650 | ~5.7 |
| DAPI | FITC | ~4.3 |
| Atto 488 | Atto 655 | ~6.5 |
| FITC | Alexa Fluor 647 | ~5.9 |
| mOrange | mCherry | ~6.3 |
| Cy3.5 | Cy5.5 | ~5.1 |
| GFP | CFP | ~5.8 |
| Rhodamine 123 | NBD | ~4.7 |
| Eosin | TAMRA | ~5.0 |
Custom FRET Pairs Service for Specific Requirements
FRET research has high demands for the matching of fluorophores, and standardized FRET pairs may not meet all experimental needs. In addition to offering common FRET pairs, BOC Sciences can customize ideal donor-acceptor combinations based on the specific experimental requirements of the customer, optimizing FRET efficiency to enhance the sensitivity and accuracy of experiments.
FRET pairs for specific wavelength ranges
Some experiments require fluorophores with specific excitation and emission wavelengths to be compatible with existing microscopes and detection equipment. BOC Sciences can provide FRET pairs with specific spectral matching to ensure optimal optical performance.
Optimizing FRET pair structures
By adjusting the Förster distance (R₀) between the donor and acceptor, BOC Sciences can optimize molecular interactions to enhance energy transfer efficiency. For applications such as nanoparticle-protein interaction studies, BOC Sciences offers optimized fluorophore conjugation strategies to improve experimental success rates.
Composite FRET pair designs
For more complex experiments, such as multi-FRET or tri-color FRET studies, BOC Sciences can customize multiple sets of fluorophore combinations to assist customers in analyzing multi-molecule interactions or complex signaling pathways.
Fluorophore Labeling Services
To assist customers in applying FRET pairs to specific experimental systems, BOC Sciences offers professional fluorophore labeling services that covalently attach FRET donor-acceptor fluorophores to biomolecules such as antibodies, proteins, and nucleic acids, ensuring the efficiency and stability of FRET experiments.
Antibody fluorophore labeling
Using reactive groups like NHS esters (N-hydroxysuccinimide ester) or maleimides, BOC Sciences achieves covalent binding of fluorophores to antibodies. This technique is widely used in FRET immunoassays, such as molecular interaction studies in ELISA or flow cytometry.
Protein fluorophore labeling
Protein fluorophore labeling is suitable for studies on protein conformation changes, enzyme activity analysis, etc. BOC Sciences labels specific sites, such as lysine (Lys) and cysteine (Cys), ensuring the fluorophore does not interfere with the protein's natural function.
Nucleic acid fluorophore labeling
DNA and RNA fluorophore labeling is crucial for nucleic acid hybridization detection, PCR, and RNA tracking studies. BOC Sciences provides fluorophores like Cy3, Cy5, FAM, and TAMRA, suitable for FRET probe design to enhance nucleic acid detection sensitivity.
Oligonucleotide fluorophore modification
In oligonucleotide synthesis, BOC Sciences can modify fluorophores onto nucleotides for applications like DNA sequencing, genotyping, and gene expression analysis. These modifications enable researchers to track and detect oligonucleotides in experiments, allowing real-time observation of DNA interactions and binding processes.
Nanomaterial fluorophore labeling
BOC Sciences also provides labeling services for nanoparticles (such as gold nanoparticles and quantum dots) with fluorophores for biosensing and cell imaging applications.
PEGylation technology
BOC Sciences offers comprehensive PEGylation services to significantly enhance the solubility, reduce aggregation, increase stability, and decrease nonspecific interactions of fluorophores by adding PEG chains to dye molecules. This technology is especially suitable for high-sensitivity and low-background fluorescence imaging applications.
End-to-End Quality Control System Ensures Probe Performance
BOC Sciences implements stringent quality control on fluorophore products to ensure high purity and performance in every batch. Advanced instrumentation (such as HPLC, mass spectrometry, and fluorescence spectrometers) is used to characterize and verify the fluorophores, ensuring their spectral performance, stability, and biocompatibility meet experimental requirements. In addition, detailed product technical documentation and experimental protocols are provided to assist customers in using our products effectively.
- Spectral characterization: Using UV-Vis and fluorescence spectrometers, the absorption and emission spectra of fluorophores are characterized to ensure their spectral properties meet FRET requirements.
- HPLC and MS: These methods are used to detect the purity and molecular weight of fluorophores, ensuring a product purity of >95%, preventing nonspecific fluorescence interference.
- Photostability testing: The stability of fluorophores under different lighting conditions is evaluated to ensure reliability in long-term experiments.
- Biocompatibility assessment: Cell toxicity tests are conducted on water-soluble fluorophores to ensure their safety in live cell imaging and in vivo experiments.
- Nanoparticle characterization: For nanoparticle-based fluorophores like quantum dots, BOC Sciences uses transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) to analyze particle size, surface modification, and dispersion, ensuring their stability in biological environments.
Our Analytical Laboratories
- High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
- Gas chromatography (GC)
- Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)
- Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)
- Thermogravimetric analysis/differential scanning calorimetry (TGA/DSC)
- Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)
What Types of FRET Applications Can We Help You Study?
FRET microscopy can be used to detect intermolecular interactions, conformational changes, and the dynamic regulation of biological processes. Through energy transfer between donor and acceptor fluorophores, FRET microscopy enables the nanoscale resolution of protein interactions, signal transduction, and cellular functions. It is widely applied in molecular biology, drug screening, and live-cell imaging, providing a high spatiotemporal resolution analytical tool for uncovering the intricate mechanisms of biological systems.
Protein Interactions
FRET microscopy is widely used to detect protein-protein interactions, including protein localization, dynamic changes, and interaction networks in live cells. For example, FRET microscopy can monitor protein interactions within cellular compartments such as the cell membrane, endoplasmic reticulum, and Golgi apparatus. Tricolor FRET technology further enhances the quantitative analysis capability of multi-protein interactions, especially in complex cellular environments.
Live Cell Imaging
FRET microscopy plays an important role in live cell imaging, enabling real-time monitoring of protein dynamics. For instance, FRET microscopy can quantitatively detect the affinity between BCL-2 family proteins and the structural ratio of their complexes. Tricolor FRET microscopy, combining multiple fluorescent proteins, allows for the simultaneous monitoring of multiple protein interactions, providing more comprehensive intracellular molecular dynamics information.
Enzyme Activity Detection
FRET technology can be used to detect enzyme activity and kinetics. By designing FRET probes, researchers can monitor the process of enzyme-catalyzed reactions in real-time. Changes in the FRET signal can reflect enzyme activity, substrate binding, and product release kinetics.
Intracellular Signal Transduction
FRET technology has important applications in studying intracellular signal transduction pathways. By labeling signaling molecules with fluorophores, researchers can monitor the dynamic changes in signal transduction pathways in real-time. FRET signal changes can reflect the activation, interaction, and spatial distribution of signaling molecules.
Drug Screening
FRET technology has widespread applications in high-throughput drug screening. By designing FRET probes, researchers can monitor the interaction between drug molecules and target proteins in real-time. Changes in the FRET signal can reflect the binding affinity, specificity, and mechanism of action of drug molecules.
Nanomaterials and Bioimaging
FRET systems combining quantum dots and organic fluorophores can be used for nanomaterial characterization, cell imaging, and super-resolution microscopy. BOC Sciences provides high-brightness, low auto-fluorescence nanofluorescent molecules, along with customized nanoparticle-biomolecule labeling solutions, driving the development of nanomedicine and high-resolution imaging technologies.
FAQs About FRET Microscopy
What is fret microscopy?
FRET microscopy (Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer microscopy) is a technique that utilizes the energy transfer between fluorescent molecules. It is used to study interactions and spatial distances between molecules. FRET microscopy monitors the emission and absorption of different fluorescent probes, enabling real-time observation of cellular and molecular activities. It is widely used in biological and biomedical research.
How does fluorescence resonance energy transfer work?
Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) is a non-radiative energy transfer phenomenon that occurs between two fluorescent molecules. When one molecule absorbs light and enters an excited state, it can transfer energy to a nearby molecule through dipole-dipole interactions. FRET occurs when the distance between the donor and acceptor molecules is typically between 1 to 10 nanometers.
What are the fluorophore pairs for FRET?
FRET (Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer) typically uses a pair of fluorescent dyes, consisting of a donor and an acceptor. The donor dye emits light when excited by a light source, and its energy can be non-radiatively transferred to the acceptor dye when they are in close proximity, causing the acceptor dye to emit light. Common fluorescent pairs include CFP (donor) and YFP (acceptor), or Alexa Fluor 488 (donor) and Alexa Fluor 594 (acceptor). Choosing the appropriate fluorescent pair requires ensuring an overlap in the emission spectra of the donor and acceptor for efficient energy transfer.
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