Fluorescent proteins: powerful tools in phagocyte biology

Phagocyte functions such as chemotaxis and phagocytosis involve the rapid and transient development of cellular polarity. Study of this highly complex spatial and temporal cellular remodelling has been limited by the static nature of immunofluorescence and immunogold microscopy and because biochemical techniques are not vectorial. The recent introduction of fluorescent proteins (FPs) provides new approaches and opportunities to study phagocyte functions non-invasively, with excellent temporal and spatial resolution. This review summarizes the main properties and possible uses of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its variants in phagocyte biology.