would like to know something about the reporter gene. How does it help
with proteins.

Hello "tedmccall",

"Reporter genes" are DNA sequences that encode a protein that is used
a a reporter.  In other words, the reporter protein is a marker that
can be followed by the researcher.  Common examples of reporter genes
are luciferase and green fluorescent protein (GFP).  Generally, these
proteins can "light up" telling the researcher where they are within a
cell.  Or these can be placed downstream of a promoter to tell the
researcher when the promoter is active.  There are a myriad of uses
for reporter genes in order to study protein function.

http://opbs.okstate.edu/~melcher/MG/MGW4/MG429.html  try this link.

"reporter gene" is a generic name for genes that researchers use as a
tool. Commonly used reporter genes code for proteins such as:

-beta glucuronidase (GUS)
-beta galactosidase (lacZ)
-green, yellow and cyan fluorescent proteins (GFP, YFP and CFP, respectively)
-luciferase

Imagine you have isolated a new gene and you would like to know where
the gene is expressed. One thing you could do is to make a transgene
by combining the promoter of your gene with the coding sequence of the
GFP gene. You can then investigate in which tissues your promoter is
active simply by searching for fluorescent parts of the organism under
a UV light lamp. This is why they are called "reporters"

There are two types of reporter genes, promoter or protein fusion. 
Promoter reporter genes are a reporter (as mentioned by others: GFP,
YFP, Bgal, Luciferase) fused to the promoter region of a gene of
interest.  They can tell you when the mRNA for protein is being made,
in what cell of an organism, and approximately how much.  A protein
fusion is when the reporter is inserted in frame of gene, usually at
the 5' or 3' end.  When the gene is transcribed and translated, the
reporter is attached to the protein.  This gives you subcellular
localizations as well as tells you about the protein levels (both
production and degradation).  One problem with protein fusions is that
they sometimes can disrupt the normal subcellular localization if they
block important sequences from being recognized by other
proteins/lipids.

Reporters can be classified as enzymatic or non-enzymatic. 
Beta-galactosidase or horseradish-peroixidase (for example) are
enzymatic, and when a substrate is added to a cell or solution
containing the reporter they cleave it to produce a fluorescent or
colored reagent.  Since they are enzymatic, they can clewave many
substrates and make a very strong signal.  Non-enzymatic reporters,
such as GFP give fluorescence and are limited by the number of
molecules produced.  This can be used to quantitate the protein level
or analyze protein dynamics by microscopy or other methods.  However,
the signal of a non-enzymatic reporter will typically be less than
that of a enzyme reporter.