Aequorin

Aequorin 1
Aequorin ribbon diagram from PDB 1ej3 with prosthetic group coelenterazine in blue
Identifiers
OrganismAequorea victoria (Jellyfish)
SymbolN/A
UniProtP07164
Other data
EC number1.13.12.5
Search for
StructuresSwiss-model
DomainsInterPro

Aequorin is a calcium-activated photoprotein isolated from the hydrozoan Aequorea victoria.[1] Its bioluminescence was studied decades before the protein was isolated from the animal by Osamu Shimomura in 1962.[2] In the animal, the protein occurs together with the green fluorescent protein to produce green light by resonant energy transfer, while aequorin by itself generates blue light.

Discussions of "jellyfish DNA" that can make "glowing" animals often refer to transgenic animals that express the green fluorescent protein, not aequorin, although both originally derive from the same animal.

Apoaequorin, the protein portion of aequorin, is an ingredient in the dietary supplement Prevagen. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has charged the maker with false advertising for its memory improvement claims.

  1. ^ Shimomura O (1995). "A short story of aequorin". Biol. Bull. 189 (1). Biological Bulletin: 1–5. doi:10.2307/1542194. JSTOR 1542194. PMID 7654844.
  2. ^ Shimomura O, Johnson FH, Saiga Y (1962). "Extraction, purification and properties of aequorin, a bioluminescent protein from the luminous hydromedusan, Aequorea". J Cell Comp Physiol. 59 (3): 223–39. doi:10.1002/jcp.1030590302. PMID 13911999.