Work

Optogenetic Engineering: Light‐Directed Cell Motility

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Genetically encoded, light-activatable proteins provide the means to probe biochemical pathways at specific subcellular locations with exquisite temporal control. However, engineering these systems in order to provide a dramatic jump in localized activity, while retaining a low dark-state background remains a significant challenge. When placed within the framework of a genetically encodable, light-activatable heterodimerizer system, the actin-remodelling protein cofilin induces dramatic changes in the F-actin network and consequent cell motility upon illumination. We demonstrate that the use of a partially impaired mutant of cofilin is critical for maintaining low background activity in the dark. We also show that light-directed recruitment of the reduced activity cofilin mutants to the cytoskeleton is sufficient to induce F-actin remodeling, formation of filopodia, and directed cell motility.

Source: Angewandte Chemie International Edition

DOI: 10.1002/anie.201404198

Authors: Robert M. Hughes, David S. Lawrence

Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Language: English

Topic: Photoreceptor and optogenetics research

Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute

Awards: G1040386720, Spatiotemporal Control of Tumor Cell Signaling, G3795581874