How do you apply protein engineering to track cellular localisation of proteins?
Protein engineering is applied to track cellular localisation of proteins by developing fluorescent proteins. The gene encoding for green fluorescent protein (GFP) obtained from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria is fused with the DNA sequence of interest.
This creates a chimeric DNA that encodes for an engineered protein. When this engineered protein is exposed to UV light, it appears as a green fluorescent molecule, thus revealing its location inside the cell.
Explanation
The answer draws directly from the textbook context which explains that GFP gene from jellyfish is fused with the DNA sequence of interest to create chimeric DNA. This engineered protein fluoresces green under UV light, allowing visualization of protein location within the cell. This is a standard technique mentioned under applications of protein engineering for tracking cellular localization.