Function: Energy-transfer acceptor. Its role is to transduce the blue chemiluminescence of the protein aequorin into green fluorescent light by energy transfer. Fluoresces in vivo upon receiving energy from the Ca²⁺ -activated photoprotein aequorin.

Subunit structure: Monomer.

Tissue specificity: Photocytes.

Post-translational modification: Contains a chromophore consisting of modified amino acid residues. The chromophore is formed by autocatalytic backbone condensation between Ser-65 and Gly-67, and oxidation of Tyr-66 to didehydrotyrosine. Maturation of the chromophore requires nothing other than molecular oxygen.

Biotechnological use: Green fluorescent protein has been engineered to produce a vast number of variously colored mutants, fusion proteins, and biosensors. Fluorescent proteins and its mutated allelic forms, blue, cyan and yellow have become a useful and ubiquitous tool for making chimeric proteins, where they function as a fluorescent protein tag. Typically they tolerate N- and C-terminal fusion to a broad variety of proteins. They have been expressed in most known cell types and are used as a noninvasive fluorescent marker in living cells and organisms. They enable a wide range of applications where they have functioned as a cell lineage tracer, reporter of gene expression, or as a measure of protein-protein interactions. Can also be used as a molecular thermometer, allowing accurate temperature measurements in fluids. The measurement process relies on the detection of the blinking of GFP using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.

Sequence similarities: Belongs to the GFP family.

Biophysicochemical properties: Absorption: Abs(max)=395 nm
Exhibits a smaller absorbance peak at 470 nm. The fluorescence emission spectrum peaks at 509 nm with a shoulder at 540 nm.