About DOPA Decarboxylase
The encoded protein catalyzes the decarboxylation of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) to dopamine, L-5-hydroxytryptophan to serotonin and L-tryptophan to tryptamine. Defects in this gene are the cause of aromatic L-amino-acid decarboxylase deficiency (AADCD). AADCD deficiency is an inborn error in neurotransmitter metabolism that leads to combined serotonin and catecholamine deficiency. Multiple alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been identified for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jun 2011]

About Alexa Fluor 488
Alexa Fluor™ 488 (AF488, Alexa 488) has an excitation peak at 488 nm and an emission peak at 496 nm, and is considered a high-performance alternative to FITC. Alexa 488 is one of the most popular Alexa Fluor™ dyes and is widely used in Fluorescence Microscopy, flow cytometry, and for staining low expression markers. It is bright, highly photostable, resistant to pH changes, and less susceptible to photobleaching. Alexa 488 and is similar in size, brightness and application to DyLight™ 488, iFluor® 488 and CF®488A.