A cutting-edge Technology
The Science Behind CATCHFIREOur technology is continuously fueled by the expertise detailed in our academic papers, published and discussed in international journals.
CATCHFIRE AT A GLANCE
CATCHFIRE, the only self-reporting protein dimerizer
CATCHFIRE of The Twinkle Factory is a fluorogenic chemically induced dimerization technology. In other words, the brandnew self-reporting protein dimerizer! It indeed enables to artificially control the proximity of two proteins in cells, while visualizing their interaction. First, the two proteins of interest are genetically fused to two small protein domains, FIREmate and FIREtag. Then, a cognate fluorogenic molecular glue of the “match” family, e.g., match550, induces their interaction. As a result, when the two domains interact, the fluorescence of match550 measured at 550 nm increases 100-fold. This hence enables to see the newly induced interaction by fluorescence microscopy. Furthermore, the ternary interaction is reversible, making CATCHFIRE the first-ever self-reporting reversible dimerizer system!
It was first introduced in Nat. Methods 2023 by Prof. A. Gautier and Dr. Franck Perez, cofounders of The Twinkle Factory.
CATCHFIRE: Chemically Assisted Tethering of CHimera by Fluorogenic Induced Recognition – © 2023 The Authors
Combining reversibility and self-reporting, featuring a very small footprint (FIREtag is 10-aa heavy only), CATCHFIRE hence paves the way to a multitude of applications in cell biology and drug discovery. HELP YOURSELF!!!
Papers by The Twinkle Factory team
- Nat. Methods 2023 – Bottone, S., Joliot, O., Cakil, Z. V., El Hajji, L., Rakotoarison, L. M., Boncompain, G., … & Gautier, A. A fluorogenic chemically induced dimerization technology for controlling, imaging and sensing protein proximity.
- More to come!
Other research teams like CATCHFIRE
- bioRxiv 2024 – Bunel, B., Goiame, R., Morin, X. & Fischer, E. Uneven mitochondrial segregation during embryonic neurogenesis.
- Nat. Methods 2023 – Wang, W., & Shen, J. Fluorogenic chemically induced dimerization.