BACKGROUND
flow cytometry and molecular imaging  <cit>  techniques are used in a wide range of applications including the isolation of stem cells to the earlier and more precise diagnosis and prognosis in various human health conditions .
with the sequencing and annotation of the human genome combined with the discovery of panels of disease associated biomarkers the need for fast and reliable probes that work in multiple formats  are required.
immunofluorescent labelling methods with appropriate imaging instruments offer a range of sensitive and quantitative approaches.
the key reagent in the immunofluorescent staining method introduced by coons  <cit>  has been refined over the past  <dig> years, it has two basic components, the fluorophore and the antibody.
the fluorophores in use today are either chemical entities requiring site specific conjugation or genetically encoded molecules  <cit> .
the vast majority of antibodies in use in immunofluorescent techniques today are still conventional animal derived poly or monoclonal preparations.
however, over the past two decades advances in the application of recombinant dna technology for creating and accessing recombinant immunoglobulin fab or single-chain fragment variable  antibodies from hybridomas or large combinatorial libraries  <cit>  has led to a plethora of genetically encoded antibody reagents.
these in vitro technologies for accessing recombinant scfv antibodies have been extensively reviewed elsewhere  <cit> .
combining recombinant scfv and fluorescent proteins  for the assembly of genetically encoded antibody-fluorophore as a direct fusion for use in molecular imaging has also been described  <cit> .
nonetheless, since the initial articles describing the green fluorescent protein -antibody fusion, the uptake of the technology and the applications have been limited  <cit> .
this may be due to a number of factors.
the early gfp cloned from aequorea, and renilla forms dimers  <cit>  and red fluorescent protein  from discosoma forms tetramers  <cit> , these properties greatly hindered the use of these molecules to create monovalent fusion tags.
secondly the emission spectrum of gfp was suboptimal for use with tissues, cells and in combination with other routinely used probes.
thirdly conventional scfv antibody domains linked by long flexible linkers are themselves prone to dissociation and aggregation  <cit> , reducing the specific activity and fourthly the requirement for secretion of the recombinant antibodies into the oxidising periplasmic space permitting intra molecular disulfide bond formation significantly reduces the yield   <cit> .
alternative expression platforms such as mammalian and insect cells have also been used to produce scfv-gfp fusions  <cit> , but at increased costs.
additionally yeast cells have also been used to express and secrete antibody-gfp fusions  <cit>  with respectable recovery of secreted gfp-scfv fusions .
these alternative expression modalities dealt with increasing the recovery of the secreted recombinant molecules and not the intrinsic stability of the antibody-gfp proteins.
the mutagenesis of dsred first to create monomeric red fluorescent protein and then further manipulation resulted in the creation of an attractive fusion partner with rapid maturation, useful optical  and physical  properties   <cit> .
the emission spectrum of mrfp <dig>  <dig> nm is distinct from other fluorophores and provides for greater separation from cell and tissue auto-fluorescence.
coloured derivatives based on the mrfp <dig> template  further extend the palette for a range of molecular cell biology applications  <cit> .
additionally other candidate fluorescent proteins based on aequorea victoria gfp with varying physical characteristics, some of which are monomeric have also been developed and reviewed elsewhere  <cit> .
moreover at a molecular level in these monomeric fluorescent protein the c- and n- termini of the mature proteins are predicted to be approximately 25Å apart in the same spatial plane on the top of the β-barrel structure , hence could bridge across such distances in molecular assemblies.
the traditional scfv design is based on the known x-ray structures of antibody fab molecules, where the distance between the c- termini of the vh and the n-termini of the vl chains or c- termini of the vl and the n-termini of the vh chains were determined to be approximately 35Å  <cit> .
this 35Å stretch has conventionally been spanned using long flexible amino-acids linkers based on n = 3- <dig>  or the 1st β-stand of the ch <dig> domain  <cit>  such linkers are long enough to permit intra-molecular vh/vl interface pairing, resulting in a functional binding site.
however they are also long and flexible enough to permit dissociation of the vh/vl resulting in loss of binding and facilitate aggregation and shorter linkers of  <dig> amino-acids or less result in inter-molecular vh/vl pairing leading to multimeric assemblies  <cit> .
also the variable domains taken out of the context of an igg or the fab fragment in some cases have an isoelectric point  that is incompatible with the physiological milieu.
the 4d5- <dig> scfv with a  <dig> linker that has been extensively studied has a predicted pi of  <dig>  and in physiological buffers at ph <dig>  the protein is insoluble.
ideally what is required is a genetically encoded solution for bridging the 35Å gap with a rigid structure that allows vh/vl interface pairing resulting in monomeric assembly limiting vh/vl dissociation and an overall pi shift to a more favourable range.
since the fp carboxyl- and amino- termini are 25Å apart, it was reasoned that with minor modifications this distance could be extended to 35Å in the same plane without impacting on the fluorophore properties.
such a modified fp could be docked between the vh/vl domains to provide an alternative bridging molecule replacing the ch <dig> with respect to the fd chain and linking directly to the n-termini of the vl domain, yet holding the two variable domains in the correct orientation and optimal distance to mimic vh/vl interface pairing observed in the fab molecules  <cit> .
furthermore it was predicted that the addition of mrfp <dig> between the variable domains would shift the pi from  <dig>  to  <dig>  conferring solubility at ph <dig> .
finally a low cost expression platform that permits the recovery of correctly folded immunoglobulin variable domains with correct disulfide bond formation is desirable.
this is not a trivial undertaking, the efficient folding of proteins with multiple disulfide bonds in the cytoplasm of most k <dig> derived escherichia coli is problematic under physiological conditions where the formation of stable disulfide bonds is not favoured.
however in some mutant strains in which the reduction of thioredoxins and glutathione is impaired, oxidised functional proteins with multiple disulfide bonds can be recovered  <cit> .
moreover correctly folded active fab antibody fragment have been recovered from e. coli origami™ host that also have mutations in both the thioredoxin reductase  and glutathione reductase  genes and the production further enhanced via the co-expression of molecular chaperones  <cit> .
in this study the scfv based on 4d5- <dig> a humanised antibody against p185her-2-ecd , that is widely used in breast cancer immunotherapy  <cit>  was assembled initially with monomeric red and subsequently with blue, cerulean and citrine fluorescent proteins  as bridging molecules.
the resulting fluorescent antibody proteins were expressed at high levels and recovered in functional form from the bacterial cytoplasm of gor-/trxb- rosetta gami strain of e. coli.
the 4d5- <dig> scfv is known to be well folded, thermodynamically stable and has been used in various applications to create fusions with rnase  <cit>  and a photosensitiser protein  <cit> .
here we provide data to support red-, bfp-, cer- and cit-antibody 4d5- <dig> to further extend the utility of recombinant fluorescent proteins as novel bridging molecules and present a panel of candidates for developing tests for quantitatively detecting p185her-2-ecd.
the intracellular expression, with correct folding and assembly of the genetically encoded fluorescent antibody provides an economical route for protein production and recovery.
RESULTS
molecular modelling
a rational approach was used in engineering of scfv 4d5- <dig> fusion with mrfp <dig> based on the x-ray crystal structure of 4d5- <dig> fab   <cit>  and the modelled structure of mrfp <dig> based on the dsred dimer .
with the addition of five amino acid  linkers to both ends between the immunoglobulin domains and the mrfp <dig> the distance between the n- and c- termini can readily be extended to 35Å apart in the same orientation.
the predicted structure shows that the mrfp <dig> would not interfere with the scfv binding site which is fully available to contact the target ligand.
this precise spatial geometry would permit the docking of mrfp <dig> or any of its derivatives between the antibody vh/vl or vl/vh chains resulting in functional scfv fluorophore fusions.
the predicted pi based on the translated sequence were  <dig>  ,  <dig>  ,  <dig>   and  <dig>  .
construction of the p4d5- <dig> scfv  <dig> linker, p4d5- <dig> scfv  <dig> linker, and p4d5-8rfp vectors
a ncoi/noti fragment encoding the 4d5- <dig> scfv vh-vl orientation with a fifteen or five amino acid n =  <dig> or  <dig> linker incorporating an in-frame bamhi  restriction site   were directionally inserted into a modified pet32a vector.
modified mrfp  with similar linkers on both ends was inserted into the scfv bamhi site .
the pet32a expression vector was initially modified to remove the ndei-noti fragment and replaced with a ncoi-noti cloning site resulting in an in-frame c terminal hexa-histidine tag .
the corresponding 4d5-8bfp, cer and cit antibodies were assembled in a similar manner.
protein expression and purification
the  <dig> kda protein  was expressed in rosetta gami b e. coli in  <dig> ml culture in a  <dig> l shake flasks.
during the expression phase the bacteria attained a distinct red pigmentation.
the protein was initially enriched from cell lysate by immobilised metal ion chromatography  and fractions analysed by sds-page , prior to analysis by gel filtration chromatography.
on sds-page the upper band corresponds to the intact protein, recovered from the cell lysis and the lower bands are the breakdown products due heat induced proteolysis at the chromophore site which has also been reported by others  <cit> .
the proteolysis occurs upon sample preparation for sds-page.
the 4d5-8rfp elution profile was compared with a panel of standard proteins confirming the monomeric state .
the fraction with the red pigmentation corresponded with eluted fractions 32- <dig>
a final yield of the 4d5-8rfp was  <dig> mg/l of bacterial culture.
the 4d5-8bfp, cer and cit were prepared following the same protocol.
the 4d5- <dig> scfv with a  <dig> amino acid linker was expressed in a similar manner and purified on imac alone.
the imac affinity enriched 4d5- <dig> scfv protein precipitated upon elution.
surface plasmon resonanace
to characterise the binding activity of 4d5-8rfp we used spr as previously reported  <cit>  and compared the values obtained with those reported in the literature .
the 4d5- <dig> scfv with a  <dig> linker was not stable in the buffer conditions used for the spr study at ph <dig>  and was not further characterised.
the calculated kd for 4d5-8rfp binding to p185her-2-ecd was  <dig>  ±  <dig>  nm  <cit> .
fluorescence analysis
to further characterise the binding activity of two of the constructs 4d5-8rfp and 4d5-8cit we used immunofluorescent cell staining as shown in figure  <dig>  purified 4d5-8rfp recognised sk-br- <dig> breast carcinoma cells that are characterised by high expression levels of p185her- <dig> and are used as a +++ positive control in the fda approved herceptest  and did not recognise the mda-md- <dig> cancer cells which do not express p185her- <dig> and are used as a negative control in the same test  <cit> .
immunofluorescent staining of sk-br- <dig> breast cancer cells revealed that purified 4d5-8rfp effectively accumulates on the surface of these cells after  <dig> minute incubation at ambient temperature.
to-pro <dig> was used as a nuclear dye and phalloidin-fitc as an actin label.
the 4d5-8mcit used to stain sk-br- <dig> breast carcinoma cells also had a similar surface labelling to 4d5-8mrfp.
the 4d5-8mcit and phalloidin-fitc images were not merged since the emission spectra were similar .
the bfp and cer fusions were not further evaluated by fluorescence microscopy due to lack of suitable filter sets.
furthermore excitation and emission analysis of purified 4d5-8bfp, 4d5-8-cer and 4d5-8cit proteins were determined and shown to be intact in the antibody format .
discussion
genetically encoded fluorescent antibody technology described more than a decade ago <cit> , has not been widely adopted to create fluorescent probes.
in part this has been due to properties of the available fluorophores.
the problems with the fluorophores have largely been overcome by the creation of monomeric fluorescent proteins  <cit>  and the creation of more desirable spectral properties  <cit> , leading to widespread use in molecular cell and developmental biology applications.
however the recombinant antibody applications in particular the scfv's have presented with stability, solubility and secretion issues.
the long peptides in the scfv that link the vh/vl together also permit domain disassociation and aggregation  <cit> .
secondly, the pi of the mature protein is also important, in particular if the intended use is at physiological ph  <dig> .
finally, scfv secretion into the bacterial periplasmic space varies considerably, impacting on the yields of functional material.
nature has provided the solutions for the problem of vh/vl pairing stabilisation and solubility.
in conventional antibodies the ch <dig> and the constant light chain orientate and hold the vh and vl in place for optimal interface pairing.
thus an approach that could conserve the fab like vh/vl pairing and permit fusion with a fluorescent protein, with a pi compatible with physiological ph and could be assembled in the cytoplasm of the cell would be ideal.
inserting the fp between the vh and vl holds the domains in close proximity similar to that observed in fab molecules.
secondly the fp domain fusion shifts the pi, and in the case of 4d5- <dig>  it now becomes soluble at ph <dig> .
both fab and scfv have been produced in e. coli carrying mutations in the thioredoxin reductase  and/or glutathione oxidoreductase  genes  <cit> .
providing an oxidising environment within the cytoplasm facilitates the formation of disulfide bonds and the production of functional proteins and is not dependent on a secretion pathway.
the 4d5-8fp's have the following characteristics; they are readily expressed and isolated from gor-/trxb- e. coli cytoplasm in a soluble form, monomeric, with a molecular weight similar to the fab fragment , the fluorophore activity remains unaltered and retain specificity of the parental antibody.
at physiological ph <dig>  the 4d5-8rfp with a predicted pi of  <dig>  and charge - <dig> is soluble whereas the scfv 4d5- <dig> with  <dig> linker with a pi of  <dig>  and zero charge was observed to precipitate.
this has been observed by others working with scfv 4d <dig> and resolved by using 2-ethanesulfonic acid  buffers at ph <dig>  in the purification process  <cit> .
these 4d5-8fp molecules may be used for the development of a diagnostic test for her <dig> positive cells in biopsy samples by immunohistochemistry or possibly for enriching and detecting circulating cancer cells by facs.
moreover, since the palette of monomeric fluorescent proteins all have the same basic conserved β-barrel architecture as mrfp <dig> used in this study, it was reasoned that the fluorophore could be readily exchanged for additional coloured proteins that have similar  <dig> β-sheet barrel-like structures  <cit> .
we also constructed 4d5- <dig> with fluorescent bridge proteins based on the monomeric bfp, mcerulean and mcitrine to produce blue, green and yellow antibodies.
the recently described monomeric reversibly switchable enhanced green fluorescent protein  <cit>  or the photoswitchable orange-to-far-red fluorescent protein   <cit>  could also be used in this platform.
using this modular technology it should be possible to create panels of antibodies with desired optical properties against a range of targets.
the combination of different antibody specificities each with a distinct colour opens up the possibility of integrated quantitative antibody mediated multiplexed fluorescence analysis.
another potential application is in targeted photoablation of cells, p185her-2-ecd expressing cancer cells have been targeted using 4d <dig> scfv fused to the n-termini of killerred  reporter  <cit> .
upon light irradiation in oxygen rich environment the killerred produces highly reactive oxygen species  which oxidised molecules in close proximity resulting in p185her-2-ecd expressing cancer cell damage and death  <cit> .
these properties have also been assigned to other fluorescent proteins and it has been experimentally confirmed that during formation of the chromophore one molecule of h2o <dig> is generated for each molecule of fluorescent protein  <cit> .
the 4d5-8rfp and the other fluorescent constructs described also generates ros upon exposure to excitation light in the presence of oxygen, thus may also have potential in targeted cell ablation.
the far-red spectrum of mrfp <dig> and the psmorange  <cit>  which have a greater tissue penetration may allow targeted use in in vivo imaging in small animals  <cit> .
previously we had reported similar mrfp <dig> constructs based on anti-sialyl-tn and anti-sialylated lewis a antibodies b <dig>   <cit>  and ca <dig>   <cit>  respectively.
the products were isolated from the periplasm of e. coli  and shown to be functional  <cit> , thus demonstrating that the approach is not restricted to a single vh/vl combination.
here we extend the study to demonstrate the flexibility of the approach in accommodating a range of different coloured monomeric fluorescent proteins as linkers in combination with anti-her <dig> scfv 4d5- <dig> and high level intracellular expression.
the intracellular expression of these affinity fluorescent probes in a range of cell types may permit the directed tagging of intracellular targets with fluorescent proteins for a range of molecular cell biology imaging studies currently not possible via direct fluorescent protein fusions.
CONCLUSIONS
here we demonstrate cytoplasmic expression of functional single chain fv antibodies using a range of genetically encoded fluorophores to link the variable domains.
these constructs could be expressed in the bacterial cytoplasm and readily recovered as functional molecules that retained binding and fluorescence properties without recourse to in vitro refolding.
this platform may also be applied to other existing mabs to create the next generation of diagnostic imaging, sorting and tracking molecules.
the modular platform may also be used to combine natural and synthetic immunoglobulin vh and vl domains with libraries of fluorophores based on monomeric rfp <dig> or gfp to create palettes of highly specific coloured binding molecules that retain optimal binding and spectral properties.
unlike conventional scfv the incorporation of the mfp linker moieties into the scfv antibody shifts the pi resulting in molecules that are soluble at physiologically relevant ph <dig> .
the rosetta gami b e. coli strain that is deficient in gor and trxb, provides an efficient intracellular production platform for these recombinant fluorescent antibodies.

 flow cytometry and molecular imaging techniques are used in a wide range of applications including the isolation of stem cells to the earlier and more precise diagnosis and prognosis in various human health conditions. with the sequencing and annotation of the human genome combined with the discovery of panels of disease associated biomarkers the need for fast and reliable probes that work in multiple formats are required. immunofluorescent labelling methods with appropriate imaging instruments offer a range of sensitive and quantitative approaches. the key reagent in the immunofluorescent staining method introduced by coons has been refined over the past years, it has two basic components, the fluorophore and the antibody. the fluorophores in use today are either chemical entities requiring site specific conjugation or genetically encoded molecules. the vast majority of antibodies in use in immunofluorescent techniques today are still conventional animal derived poly or monoclonal preparations. however, over the past two decades advances in the application of recombinant dna technology for creating and accessing recombinant immunoglobulin fab or single-chain fragment variable antibodies from hybridomas or large combinatorial libraries has led to a plethora of genetically encoded antibody reagents. these in vitro technologies for accessing recombinant scfv antibodies have been extensively reviewed elsewhere. combining recombinant scfv and fluorescent proteins for the assembly of genetically encoded antibody-fluorophore as a direct fusion for use in molecular imaging has also been described. nonetheless, since the initial articles describing the green fluorescent protein -antibody fusion, the uptake of the technology and the applications have been limited. this may be due to a number of factors. the early gfp cloned from aequorea, and renilla forms dimers and red fluorescent protein from discosoma forms tetramers, these properties greatly hindered the use of these molecules to create monovalent fusion tags. secondly the emission spectrum of gfp was suboptimal for use with tissues, cells and in combination with other routinely used probes. thirdly conventional scfv antibody domains linked by long flexible linkers are themselves prone to dissociation and aggregation, reducing the specific activity and fourthly the requirement for secretion of the recombinant antibodies into the oxidising periplasmic space permitting intra molecular disulfide bond formation significantly reduces the yield. alternative expression platforms such as mammalian and insect cells have also been used to produce scfv-gfp fusions, but at increased costs. additionally yeast cells have also been used to express and secrete antibody-gfp fusions with respectable recovery of secreted gfp-scfv fusions. these alternative expression modalities dealt with increasing the recovery of the secreted recombinant molecules and not the intrinsic stability of the antibody-gfp proteins. the mutagenesis of dsred first to create monomeric red fluorescent protein and then further manipulation resulted in the creation of an attractive fusion partner with rapid maturation, useful optical and physical properties. the emission spectrum of mrfp nm is distinct from other fluorophores and provides for greater separation from cell and tissue auto-fluorescence. coloured derivatives based on the mrfp template further extend the palette for a range of molecular cell biology applications. additionally other candidate fluorescent proteins based on aequorea victoria gfp with varying physical characteristics, some of which are monomeric have also been developed and reviewed elsewhere. moreover at a molecular level in these monomeric fluorescent protein the c- and n- termini of the mature proteins are predicted to be approximately 25Å apart in the same spatial plane on the top of the β-barrel structure, hence could bridge across such distances in molecular assemblies. the traditional scfv design is based on the known x-ray structures of antibody fab molecules, where the distance between the c- termini of the vh and the n-termini of the vl chains or c- termini of the vl and the n-termini of the vh chains were determined to be approximately 35Å. this 35Å stretch has conventionally been spanned using long flexible amino-acids linkers based on n = 3- or the 1st β-stand of the ch domain such linkers are long enough to permit intra-molecular vh/vl interface pairing, resulting in a functional binding site. however they are also long and flexible enough to permit dissociation of the vh/vl resulting in loss of binding and facilitate aggregation and shorter linkers of amino-acids or less result in inter-molecular vh/vl pairing leading to multimeric assemblies. also the variable domains taken out of the context of an igg or the fab fragment in some cases have an isoelectric point that is incompatible with the physiological milieu. the 4d5- scfv with a linker that has been extensively studied has a predicted pi of and in physiological buffers at ph the protein is insoluble. ideally what is required is a genetically encoded solution for bridging the 35Å gap with a rigid structure that allows vh/vl interface pairing resulting in monomeric assembly limiting vh/vl dissociation and an overall pi shift to a more favourable range. since the fp carboxyl- and amino- termini are 25Å apart, it was reasoned that with minor modifications this distance could be extended to 35Å in the same plane without impacting on the fluorophore properties. such a modified fp could be docked between the vh/vl domains to provide an alternative bridging molecule replacing the ch with respect to the fd chain and linking directly to the n-termini of the vl domain, yet holding the two variable domains in the correct orientation and optimal distance to mimic vh/vl interface pairing observed in the fab molecules. furthermore it was predicted that the addition of mrfp between the variable domains would shift the pi from to conferring solubility at ph. finally a low cost expression platform that permits the recovery of correctly folded immunoglobulin variable domains with correct disulfide bond formation is desirable. this is not a trivial undertaking, the efficient folding of proteins with multiple disulfide bonds in the cytoplasm of most k derived escherichia coli is problematic under physiological conditions where the formation of stable disulfide bonds is not favoured. however in some mutant strains in which the reduction of thioredoxins and glutathione is impaired, oxidised functional proteins with multiple disulfide bonds can be recovered. moreover correctly folded active fab antibody fragment have been recovered from e. coli origami™ host that also have mutations in both the thioredoxin reductase and glutathione reductase genes and the production further enhanced via the co-expression of molecular chaperones. in this study the scfv based on 4d5- a humanised antibody against p185her-2-ecd, that is widely used in breast cancer immunotherapy was assembled initially with monomeric red and subsequently with blue, cerulean and citrine fluorescent proteins as bridging molecules. the resulting fluorescent antibody proteins were expressed at high levels and recovered in functional form from the bacterial cytoplasm of gor-/trxb- rosetta gami strain of e. coli. the 4d5- scfv is known to be well folded, thermodynamically stable and has been used in various applications to create fusions with rnase and a photosensitiser protein. here we provide data to support red-, bfp-, cer- and cit-antibody 4d5- to further extend the utility of recombinant fluorescent proteins as novel bridging molecules and present a panel of candidates for developing tests for quantitatively detecting p185her-2-ecd. the intracellular expression, with correct folding and assembly of the genetically encoded fluorescent antibody provides an economical route for protein production and recovery.  molecular modelling a rational approach was used in engineering of scfv 4d5- fusion with mrfp based on the x-ray crystal structure of 4d5- fab and the modelled structure of mrfp based on the dsred dimer. with the addition of five amino acid linkers to both ends between the immunoglobulin domains and the mrfp the distance between the n- and c- termini can readily be extended to 35Å apart in the same orientation. the predicted structure shows that the mrfp would not interfere with the scfv binding site which is fully available to contact the target ligand. this precise spatial geometry would permit the docking of mrfp or any of its derivatives between the antibody vh/vl or vl/vh chains resulting in functional scfv fluorophore fusions. the predicted pi based on the translated sequence were,, and. construction of the p4d5- scfv linker, p4d5- scfv linker, and p4d5-8rfp vectors a ncoi/noti fragment encoding the 4d5- scfv vh-vl orientation with a fifteen or five amino acid n = or linker incorporating an in-frame bamhi restriction site were directionally inserted into a modified pet32a vector. modified mrfp with similar linkers on both ends was inserted into the scfv bamhi site. the pet32a expression vector was initially modified to remove the ndei-noti fragment and replaced with a ncoi-noti cloning site resulting in an in-frame c terminal hexa-histidine tag. the corresponding 4d5-8bfp, cer and cit antibodies were assembled in a similar manner. protein expression and purification the kda protein was expressed in rosetta gami b e. coli in ml culture in a l shake flasks. during the expression phase the bacteria attained a distinct red pigmentation. the protein was initially enriched from cell lysate by immobilised metal ion chromatography and fractions analysed by sds-page, prior to analysis by gel filtration chromatography. on sds-page the upper band corresponds to the intact protein, recovered from the cell lysis and the lower bands are the breakdown products due heat induced proteolysis at the chromophore site which has also been reported by others. the proteolysis occurs upon sample preparation for sds-page. the 4d5-8rfp elution profile was compared with a panel of standard proteins confirming the monomeric state. the fraction with the red pigmentation corresponded with eluted fractions 32- a final yield of the 4d5-8rfp was mg/l of bacterial culture. the 4d5-8bfp, cer and cit were prepared following the same protocol. the 4d5- scfv with a amino acid linker was expressed in a similar manner and purified on imac alone. the imac affinity enriched 4d5- scfv protein precipitated upon elution. surface plasmon resonanace to characterise the binding activity of 4d5-8rfp we used spr as previously reported and compared the values obtained with those reported in the literature. the 4d5- scfv with a linker was not stable in the buffer conditions used for the spr study at ph and was not further characterised. the calculated kd for 4d5-8rfp binding to p185her-2-ecd was ± nm. fluorescence analysis to further characterise the binding activity of two of the constructs 4d5-8rfp and 4d5-8cit we used immunofluorescent cell staining as shown in figure purified 4d5-8rfp recognised sk-br- breast carcinoma cells that are characterised by high expression levels of p185her- and are used as a +++ positive control in the fda approved herceptest and did not recognise the mda-md- cancer cells which do not express p185her- and are used as a negative control in the same test. immunofluorescent staining of sk-br- breast cancer cells revealed that purified 4d5-8rfp effectively accumulates on the surface of these cells after minute incubation at ambient temperature. to-pro was used as a nuclear dye and phalloidin-fitc as an actin label. the 4d5-8mcit used to stain sk-br- breast carcinoma cells also had a similar surface labelling to 4d5-8mrfp. the 4d5-8mcit and phalloidin-fitc images were not merged since the emission spectra were similar. the bfp and cer fusions were not further evaluated by fluorescence microscopy due to lack of suitable filter sets. furthermore excitation and emission analysis of purified 4d5-8bfp, 4d5-8-cer and 4d5-8cit proteins were determined and shown to be intact in the antibody format. discussion genetically encoded fluorescent antibody technology described more than a decade ago, has not been widely adopted to create fluorescent probes. in part this has been due to properties of the available fluorophores. the problems with the fluorophores have largely been overcome by the creation of monomeric fluorescent proteins and the creation of more desirable spectral properties, leading to widespread use in molecular cell and developmental biology applications. however the recombinant antibody applications in particular the scfv's have presented with stability, solubility and secretion issues. the long peptides in the scfv that link the vh/vl together also permit domain disassociation and aggregation. secondly, the pi of the mature protein is also important, in particular if the intended use is at physiological ph. finally, scfv secretion into the bacterial periplasmic space varies considerably, impacting on the yields of functional material. nature has provided the solutions for the problem of vh/vl pairing stabilisation and solubility. in conventional antibodies the ch and the constant light chain orientate and hold the vh and vl in place for optimal interface pairing. thus an approach that could conserve the fab like vh/vl pairing and permit fusion with a fluorescent protein, with a pi compatible with physiological ph and could be assembled in the cytoplasm of the cell would be ideal. inserting the fp between the vh and vl holds the domains in close proximity similar to that observed in fab molecules. secondly the fp domain fusion shifts the pi, and in the case of 4d5- it now becomes soluble at ph. both fab and scfv have been produced in e. coli carrying mutations in the thioredoxin reductase and/or glutathione oxidoreductase genes. providing an oxidising environment within the cytoplasm facilitates the formation of disulfide bonds and the production of functional proteins and is not dependent on a secretion pathway. the 4d5-8fp's have the following characteristics; they are readily expressed and isolated from gor-/trxb- e. coli cytoplasm in a soluble form, monomeric, with a molecular weight similar to the fab fragment, the fluorophore activity remains unaltered and retain specificity of the parental antibody. at physiological ph the 4d5-8rfp with a predicted pi of and charge - is soluble whereas the scfv 4d5- with linker with a pi of and zero charge was observed to precipitate. this has been observed by others working with scfv 4d and resolved by using 2-ethanesulfonic acid buffers at ph in the purification process. these 4d5-8fp molecules may be used for the development of a diagnostic test for her positive cells in biopsy samples by immunohistochemistry or possibly for enriching and detecting circulating cancer cells by facs. moreover, since the palette of monomeric fluorescent proteins all have the same basic conserved β-barrel architecture as mrfp used in this study, it was reasoned that the fluorophore could be readily exchanged for additional coloured proteins that have similar β-sheet barrel-like structures. we also constructed 4d5- with fluorescent bridge proteins based on the monomeric bfp, mcerulean and mcitrine to produce blue, green and yellow antibodies. the recently described monomeric reversibly switchable enhanced green fluorescent protein or the photoswitchable orange-to-far-red fluorescent protein could also be used in this platform. using this modular technology it should be possible to create panels of antibodies with desired optical properties against a range of targets. the combination of different antibody specificities each with a distinct colour opens up the possibility of integrated quantitative antibody mediated multiplexed fluorescence analysis. another potential application is in targeted photoablation of cells, p185her-2-ecd expressing cancer cells have been targeted using 4d scfv fused to the n-termini of killerred reporter. upon light irradiation in oxygen rich environment the killerred produces highly reactive oxygen species which oxidised molecules in close proximity resulting in p185her-2-ecd expressing cancer cell damage and death. these properties have also been assigned to other fluorescent proteins and it has been experimentally confirmed that during formation of the chromophore one molecule of h2o is generated for each molecule of fluorescent protein. the 4d5-8rfp and the other fluorescent constructs described also generates ros upon exposure to excitation light in the presence of oxygen, thus may also have potential in targeted cell ablation. the far-red spectrum of mrfp and the psmorange which have a greater tissue penetration may allow targeted use in in vivo imaging in small animals. previously we had reported similar mrfp constructs based on anti-sialyl-tn and anti-sialylated lewis a antibodies b and ca respectively. the products were isolated from the periplasm of e. coli and shown to be functional, thus demonstrating that the approach is not restricted to a single vh/vl combination. here we extend the study to demonstrate the flexibility of the approach in accommodating a range of different coloured monomeric fluorescent proteins as linkers in combination with anti-her scfv 4d5- and high level intracellular expression. the intracellular expression of these affinity fluorescent probes in a range of cell types may permit the directed tagging of intracellular targets with fluorescent proteins for a range of molecular cell biology imaging studies currently not possible via direct fluorescent protein fusions.  here we demonstrate cytoplasmic expression of functional single chain fv antibodies using a range of genetically encoded fluorophores to link the variable domains. these constructs could be expressed in the bacterial cytoplasm and readily recovered as functional molecules that retained binding and fluorescence properties without recourse to in vitro refolding. this platform may also be applied to other existing mabs to create the next generation of diagnostic imaging, sorting and tracking molecules. the modular platform may also be used to combine natural and synthetic immunoglobulin vh and vl domains with libraries of fluorophores based on monomeric rfp or gfp to create palettes of highly specific coloured binding molecules that retain optimal binding and spectral properties. unlike conventional scfv the incorporation of the mfp linker moieties into the scfv antibody shifts the pi resulting in molecules that are soluble at physiologically relevant ph. the rosetta gami b e. coli strain that is deficient in gor and trxb, provides an efficient intracellular production platform for these recombinant fluorescent antibodies. 
the efficient intracellular expression of these functional molecules opens up the possibility of developing an alternative approach for tagging intracellular targets with fluorescent proteins for a range of molecular cell biology imaging studies. however, single-chain fragment variable domains linked by long flexible linkers are themselves prone to disassociation and aggregation, and in some cases with isoelectric points incompatible with use in physiologically relevant milieu. here we describe a general approach that permits fully functional intracellular production of a range of coloured fluorescent recombinant antibodies with optimally orientated vh/vl interfaces and isoelectric points compatible for use in physiological solutions at ph with a binding site to fluorophore stoichiometry of 1: the insertion of monomeric fluorescent protein derived from either discosoma or aequorea in-between the variable regions of anti-p185her2-ecd antibody 4d5- resulted in optimal vh/vl interface interactions to create soluble coloured antibodies each with a single binding site, with isoelectric points of - the fluorescent antibodies used in cell staining studies with sk-br- cells retained the fluorophore properties and antibody specificity functions, whereas the conventional 4d5- single chain antibody with a linker precipitated at physiological ph. assembling the single chain antibody with monomeric fluorescent protein linker facilitates optimal variable domain pairing and alters the isoelectric point of the recombinant 4d5- protein conferring solubility at physiological ph. antibody-fluorophore conjugates are invaluable reagents used in contemporary molecular cell biology for imaging, cell sorting and tracking intracellular events.
 antibody-fluorophore conjugates are invaluable reagents used in contemporary molecular cell biology for imaging, cell sorting and tracking intracellular events. however they suffer in some cases from batch to batch variation, partial loss of binding and susceptibility to photo-bleaching. in theory, these issues can all be addressed by using recombinant antibody fused directly to genetically encoded fluorescent reporters. however, single-chain fragment variable domains linked by long flexible linkers are themselves prone to disassociation and aggregation, and in some cases with isoelectric points incompatible with use in physiologically relevant milieu. here we describe a general approach that permits fully functional intracellular production of a range of coloured fluorescent recombinant antibodies with optimally orientated vh/vl interfaces and isoelectric points compatible for use in physiological solutions at ph with a binding site to fluorophore stoichiometry of 1:  here we report the design, assembly, intracellular bacterial production and purification of a panel of novel antibody fluorescent protein fusion constructs. the insertion of monomeric fluorescent protein derived from either discosoma or aequorea in-between the variable regions of anti-p185her2-ecd antibody 4d5- resulted in optimal vh/vl interface interactions to create soluble coloured antibodies each with a single binding site, with isoelectric points of - the fluorescent antibodies used in cell staining studies with sk-br- cells retained the fluorophore properties and antibody specificity functions, whereas the conventional 4d5- single chain antibody with a linker precipitated at physiological ph.  this modular monomeric recombinant fluorescent antibody platform may be used to create a range of recombinant coloured antibody molecules for quantitative in situ, in vivo and ex vivo imaging, cell sorting and cell trafficking studies. assembling the single chain antibody with monomeric fluorescent protein linker facilitates optimal variable domain pairing and alters the isoelectric point of the recombinant 4d5- protein conferring solubility at physiological ph. the efficient intracellular expression of these functional molecules opens up the possibility of developing an alternative approach for tagging intracellular targets with fluorescent proteins for a range of molecular cell biology imaging studies. 