Discoveries

Fluorescent proteins have revolutionized science, enabling researchers to tag and visualize individual molecules in living cells, tissues, and animals. Using these tools, researchers have watched viruses infect cells in real time, observed cellular waste collection, and tracked the signaling that spurs tumor growth. Axel Nimmerjahn, PhD, worked with collaborators at Albert Einstein College of Medicine to advance this visualization technology. 

Their new technology, called visible-spectrum antigen-stabilizable fluorescent nanobodies (VIS-Fbs), was validated across multiple mammalian cell types and provides a powerful tool for a wide range of life science research applications. Scientists can now gain more accurate, timely insight into cellular activity—even in complex environments such as living brain tissue.

“This work establishes a versatile platform for imaging proteins with high specificity and minimal background. It opens new opportunities to study how molecular and cellular processes unfold in real time across diverse biological systems.”

Axel Nimmerjahn

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