A method of treating a subject afflicted with a retinal degenerative or neurodegenerative disease including administering an optogenetic therapeutic to the subject, where the optogenetic therapeutic includes an optogenetic protein fused or linked to a marker protein. An optogenetic therapeutic for use in treating a subject afflicted with a retinal degenerative or neurodegenerative disease, including an optogenetic protein fused or linked to a marker protein.

Modified viruses and methods for preparing the modified viruses are provided. Vaccines that contain the viruses are provided. The viruses can be used in methods of treatment of diseases, such as proliferative and inflammatory disorders, including cancer, and as anti-tumor and/or antiangiogenic agents. The viruses also can be used in diagnostic methods.

Some embodiments disclosed herein pertain to indicator compounds used to detect the presence of and/or an amount of an analyte. In some embodiments, the indicator compounds are fusion proteins. In some embodiments, when the analyte binds to the indicator compound, the indicator compound undergoes a conformational change. In some embodiments, the conformational change results in a luminescent signal that allows quantification of the amount of analyte present.

This invention provides the nucleic acid molecules encoding novel small monomeric near-infrared fluorescent protein miRFP670nano, variants and derivatives thereof as well as proteins and peptides encoded by these nucleic acids. The invention also relates to derivatives, homologues, or mutants of the specific proteins referenced above as well as fragments of the nucleic acids and the peptides encoded thereby. The invention further relates to host-cells, stable cell lines and transgenic organisms comprising above-referenced nucleic acid molecules. The present invention also refers to methods of making and using small monomeric near-infrared fluorescent proteins derived from cyanobacteriochromes. The presented protein and its derivatives find use in a variety of applications and approaches, including labeling of biomolecules, cells or cell organelles, detecting protein-protein interactions, and generation of genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors.

Engineered orange-red fluorescent proteins with enhanced fluorescent properties, obtained by mutagenesis of mNeptune2, are disclosed. In particular, the invention relates to engineered orange-red fluorescent proteins excitable with cyan light having increased emission intensity and their use in bioluminescent resonance energy transfer systems and fluorescence and bioluminescence imaging.

A bioluminescent protein is provided that includes a substituted luciferase polypeptide having amino acid substitutions at positions 21 and 166, and with one or more additional amino acid substitutions at positions 3, 16, 20, 29, 30, 71, 87, 114, and 144, compared to the parent polypeptide. Also provided is a luciferin that has a selenium-containing group at position C8 of an imidazopyrazine backbone, and methods of making the luciferin. In addition, nucleic acids encoding the bioluminescent protein, cells expressing the bioluminescent protein, and reactions between the bioluminescent protein and luciferin substrates are also provided. Fusions between the substituted luciferase polypeptide and a fluorescent protein are also provided for bioluminescence resonance energy transfer based reporters.

The present disclosure relates to methods and compositions comprising naturally occurring light absorbing molecules for preventing damages from light exposure. Specific embodiments of this disclosure include fluorescent proteins from Brachiostoma lanceolatum.

A ferumoxytol-based dual-modality imaging probe for long-term stem cell tracking through MRI and early diagnosis of cell apoptosis through simultaneous fluorescence imaging is provided. Specifically, a ferumoxytol-based dual-modality imaging probe is provided with enhanced T.sub.2* relaxivity for tracking stem cells through magnetic resonance imaging and detecting apoptotic stem cells through fluorescence imaging.

Gas vesicles, protein variants and related compositions methods and systems for singleplexed and/or multiplexed ultrasound imaging of a target site in which a gas vesicle provides contrast for the imaging which is modifiable by application of a selectable acoustic collapse pressure value of the gas vesicle.

This invention provides the nucleic acid molecules encoding novel small monomeric near-infrared fluorescent protein miRFP670nano, variants and derivatives thereof as well as proteins and peptides encoded by these nucleic acids. The invention also relates to derivatives, homologues, or mutants of the specific proteins referenced above as well as fragments of the nucleic acids and the peptides encoded thereby. The invention further relates to host-cells, stable cell lines and transgenic organisms comprising above-referenced nucleic acid molecules. The present invention also refers to methods of making and using small monomeric near-infrared fluorescent proteins derived from cyanobacteriochromes. The presented protein and its derivatives find use in a variety of applications and approaches, including labeling of biomolecules, cells or cell organelles, detecting protein-protein interactions, and generation of genetically encoded fluorescent biosensor.