Sense and Sensibility

SENSOR SET-UP: To detect a small molecule of interest (the ligand), a conditionally stable ligand-binding domain (LBD) is fused to a reporter, such as green fluorescent protein (GFP). The complex degrades if the ligand is not present (1), and activates the reporter when it is (2). In another demonstration of this sensor, researchers connected the LBD to a DNA-binding domain (DBD) (3). When the ligand is present, the DBD hooks onto to a site in the genome (red), which results in the expression of a specified reporter gene (yellow) (4).© GEORGE RETSECK; ELIFE, 4:E10606, 2015See the full article here.