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Fast, Bright and Reversible Rhodamine Tags for Live-Cell Imaging

Kompa, J.; Dornfeld, L. J.; Porzberg, N.; Jang, S.; Lilje, S. H.; Catapano, C.; Jocher, D.; Merk, L.; Zedlitz, S.; Mao, R.; Wilhelm, J.; Dietz, M. S.; Tarnawski, M.; Hiblot, J.; Heilemann, M.; Johnsson, K.

2025-07-09 bioengineering
10.1101/2025.07.06.663254 bioRxiv
Show abstract

We present Rho-tag and SiR-tag, engineered protein tags derived from bacterial multidrug-resistance proteins that bind unsubstituted (silicon-) rhodamines with nanomolar affinity, enabling fast, reversible, and fluorogenic protein labeling. In live cells, Rho-tag labeling occurs within seconds -- faster than HaloTag7 -- and the tags are compatible with super-resolution methods like STED, SMLM, and MINFLUX. The high specificity of Rho-tag and SiR-tag for unsubstituted rhodamines allows their use alongside HaloTag7 and SNAP-tag. In vivo applications are demonstrated by efficient neuronal labeling in zebrafish larvae.

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