Posted this over in the imaging forums, but realized here might be more appropriate.
Does anyone have any experience using this protein; customer reviews?
http://www.capitalbiosciences.com/product/info/Lenti-mKate2-virus.html
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Ready-to-use virus expressing far-red fluorescent protein mKate2. It can be used as a control in experiments with lentivirus transductions of target cells or for the generation of stable cell lines. Such cells can be implanted in mice to monitor their localization using in vivo imaging equipment.
mKate2 is the next generation of monomeric far-red fluorescent protein TagFP635 (mKate) [Shcherbo et al., 2007; Shcherbo et al., 2009]. Possessing fluorescence with excitation/emission maxima at 588 and 633 nm, mKate2 is almost 3-fold brighter than TagFP635 and is 10-fold brighter than mPlum at the physiological pH = 7.5. Within the optical window optimal for light penetration in living tissues, calculated brightness of mKate2 is at least 2-fold higher compared to any monomeric fluorescent protein reported to date.
mKate2 is characterized by complete and fast chromophore maturation at 37°C with maturation half-time <20 min (versus 40 min for mCherry). It is more photostable under both widefield and confocal illumination than other monomeric far-red proteins, including TagFP635, mRaspberry and mPlum. The high brightness, far-red emission spectrum, excellent pH resistance and photostability, coupled with low toxicity demonstrated in transgenic Xenopus laevis embryos, make mKate2 a superior fluorescent tag for imaging in living tissues.
mKate2 is mainly intended for protein labeling. Its far-red fluorescence allows easy and reliable separation from standard green fluorescent labels in dual-color high-throughput assays.