About Melusin
This gene encodes a protein with two cysteine and histidine-rich (CHORD) domains, PXXP motifs, YXXI/P motifs, putative SH2 and SH3 domain binding motifs, and an acidic region at the C-terminus that can bind calcium. Two hybrid analysis showed that this protein interacts with the cytoplasmic domain of the beta 1 integrin subunit and is thought to act as a chaperone protein. Studies in the mouse ortholog of this gene indicate that absence of this gene in mouse results in failed cardiac hypertrophy in response to mechanical stress. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms, including an isoform that lacks several domains, including one of the CHORD domains. [provided by RefSeq, May 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.