mCherry fluorescent protein (mCherry)

mCherry is a monomeric red fluorescent protein (RFP) derived from the Discosoma sp. reef coral protein DsRed (Shaner et al., 2004, Nature Biotechnology). It was engineered to overcome the limitations of its predecessor, such as slow maturation and the tendency to form tetramers, which can interfere with the function of fused proteins (FPbase, 2024). mCherry is widely utilized in molecular and cellular biology as a reporter molecule to visualize protein localization, track cell lineages, and monitor gene expression in real-time (UniProt, 2024). With an excitation maximum at 587 nm and an emission maximum at 610 nm, it is highly valued for its photostability and brightness, making it ideal for long-term imaging and multicolor experiments. Although mCherry is not a therapeutic target for drug development, it serves as a critical tool in preclinical research for assessing the pharmacodynamics and distribution of experimental drugs (PubMed, 2024). Its use in vivo is primarily restricted to animal models due to potential immunogenicity and the lack of clinical utility as a therapeutic agent.

Other names

monomeric CherrymCherry RFPRed fluorescent protein variant

mCherry is a reporter protein and does not possess a therapeutic mechanism of action (Shaner et al., 2004).