About PRKG1
Mammals have three different isoforms of cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase (Ialpha, Ibeta, and II). These PRKG isoforms act as key mediators of the nitric oxide/cGMP signaling pathway and are important components of many signal transduction processes in diverse cell types. This PRKG1 gene on human chromosome 10 encodes the soluble Ialpha and Ibeta isoforms of PRKG by alternative transcript splicing. A separate gene on human chromosome 4, PRKG2, encodes the membrane-bound PRKG isoform II. The PRKG1 proteins play a central role in regulating cardiovascular and neuronal functions in addition to relaxing smooth muscle tone, preventing platelet aggregation, and modulating cell growth. This gene is most strongly expressed in all types of smooth muscle, platelets, cerebellar Purkinje cells, hippocampal neurons, and the lateral amygdala. Isoforms Ialpha and Ibeta have identical cGMP-binding and catalytic domains but differ in their leucine/isoleucine zipper and autoinhibitory sequences and therefore differ in their dimerization substrates and kinase enzyme activity. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2011]

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.