About OPRL1
The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the 7 transmembrane-spanning G protein-coupled receptor family, and functions as a receptor for the endogenous, opioid-related neuropeptide, nociceptin/orphanin FQ. This receptor-ligand system modulates a variety of biological functions and neurobehavior, including stress responses and anxiety behavior, learning and memory, locomotor activity, and inflammatory and immune responses. A promoter region between this gene and the 5'-adjacent RGS19 (regulator of G-protein signaling 19) gene on the opposite strand functions bi-directionally as a core-promoter for both genes, suggesting co-operative transcriptional regulation of these two functionally related genes. Alternatively spliced transcript variants have been described for this gene. A recent study provided evidence for translational readthrough in this gene, and expression of an additional C-terminally extended isoform via the use of an alternative in-frame translation termination codon. [provided by RefSeq, Dec 2017]

About FITC
Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) has an excitation peak at 495 nm and an emission peak at 519 nm. The name FITC is a misnomer in that the isothiocyanate is a reactive form of this dye. Once FITC is conjugated to an antibody, it is simply Fluorescein conjugated. FITC is one of the most widely used dyes for fluorescent applications, therefore most instruments come standard with a 488 nm laser and FITC filter set up. FITC is commonly conjugated to secondary antibodies and used in applications such as flow cytometry, immunocytochemistry, and immunohistochemistry. FITC is relatively dim, sensitive to photobleaching and it is susceptible to changes is pH. There are better performing alternatives to FITC, like Vio®Bright 515, Alexa Fluor™ 488, iFluor® 488, CF®488A and DY-488. FITC is a long-time generic dye with no sole manufacturer or trademark.