Kaede

Kaede (楓) is a Japanese word meaning maple. It is also a Japanese given name.

People

Characters

Kaede (protein)

Kaede protein is a photoactivatable fluorescent protein naturally originated from a stony coral, Trachyphyllia geoffroyi. It was named Kaede, meaning "maple leaf" in Japanese. With the irradiation of ultraviolet light (350–400 nm), Kaede undergoes irreversible photoconversion from green fluorescence to red fluorescence. It is a homotetrameric protein with the size of 116 kDa. The tetrameric structure was deduced as its primary structure is only 28 kDa. This tetramerization possibly makes Kaede have a low tendency to form aggregates when fused to other proteins.

Discovery

The property of photoconverted fluorescence Kaede protein was serendipitously discovered and first reported by Ando et al. in Proceedings of the United States National Academy of Sciences. An aliquot of Kaede protein was discovered to emit red fluorescence after being left on the bench and exposed to sunlight. Subsequent verification revealed that Kaede, which is originally green fluorescent, after exposure to UV light is photoconverted, becoming red fluorescent. It was then named Kaede.

Kaede (ship)

Several ships have been named Kaede (楓 / かえで, "maple") :

See also