Optogenetics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optogenetics has emerged as a promising means to achieve gene expression control in bioprocess engineering, but current systems cannot respond to fluctuations in growth conditions. Here the authors overcome this limitation and develop an automated optogenetic feedback control system for precise and robust control of protein production in E. coli.

    • Andreas Milias-Argeitis
    • , Marc Rullan
    •  & Mustafa Khammash

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Light-inducible control of protein subcellular localization holds great promise for synthetic biology applications and insights into basic cell biology. Here the authors develop a genetically-encoded light-inducible nuclear export system and apply it to a synthetic repressor and p53 transcriptional activity.

    • Dominik Niopek
    • , Pierre Wehler
    •  & Barbara Di Ventura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inducing random mutation of C. elegansDNA is a widely used technique to investigate gene and protein function. Here the authors introduce a method of optogenetic mutagenesis, driving the generation of reactive oxygen species, which avoids the use of toxic chemicals.

    • Kentaro Noma
    •  & Yishi Jin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Common optogenetic approaches require surgical procedures to deliver light of specific wavelengths to the target cells. Here the authors demonstrate the use of low-pressure ultrasound as a non-invasive trigger to activate specific neurons in Caenorhabditis elegansand find that the mechanotransduction channel TRP-4 sensitizes cells to the ultrasound stimulus.

    • Stuart Ibsen
    • , Ada Tong
    •  & Sreekanth H. Chalasani

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) is a cellular second messenger involved in many processes including regulation of neuronal excitability and vascular tone. Gao, Nagpalet al., employ a fungal rhodopsin to optogenetically control cGMP levels in multiple systems including C. eleganssensory neurons.

    • Shiqiang Gao
    • , Jatin Nagpal
    •  & Alexander Gottschalk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Current tools for optogenetic control of intracellular calcium signals currently suffer from slow response time or low dynamic range. Here the authors develop blue light-activated Ca2+ channel switch (BACCS) that modulates the activity of Ca2+-sensitive Orai channels with high temporal resolution and large dynamic range.

    • Tomohiro Ishii
    • , Koji Sato
    •  & Takao Nakata

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nerve damage can lead to skeletal muscle paralysis. The authors show that localized photostimulation of skeletal muscle expressing the light-sensitive channel Channelrhodopsin-2 generates contraction in the absence of neural impulses and prove that this strategy can be used for optogenetic opening of explanted murine vocal cords.

    • Tobias Bruegmann
    • , Tobias van Bremen
    •  & Philipp Sasse

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Retinal-bound opsins are widely used tools for optical control of neuronal activity in vivo, so called optogenetics. Here, using molecular simulations, biochemistry, electrophysiology and X-ray crystallography, the authors present new molecular design principles for the generation of blue-shifted variants of microbial rhodopsins.

    • Hideaki E. Kato
    • , Motoshi Kamiya
    •  & Osamu Nureki

  • Article |

    Signaling through transmembrane receptors regulates diverse biological processes including cell proliferation, motility and differentiation. Here, the authors demonstrate the optogenetic control of endogenous transmembrane receptor activity through clustering using a new modular strategy.

    • L. J. Bugaj
    • , D. P. Spelke
    •  & D. V. Schaffer

  • Article |

    Photoreceptor-based photoswitches have proved to be powerful tools for the specific control of protein activity in live cells. Here the authors describe Magnets, a new set of photoswitches based on the Vivid photoreceptor with enhanced hetero-dimerization specificity and variable activation kinetics.

    • Fuun Kawano
    • , Hideyuki Suzuki
    •  & Moritoshi Sato

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis coordinates behavioral and physiological responses to stress but the mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, the authors show that neurons that produce hypocretin/orexin in the lateral hypothalamic area regulate corticosterone release and a variety of behaviors related to the stress response.

    • Patricia Bonnavion
    • , Alexander C. Jackson
    •  & Luis de Lecea

  • Article |

    Efforts to improve the performance of optogenetic tools for neuroscience research have mostly been focused on mutating the opsin backbones or mining-related algal genomes. Here the authors show that analogues of the chromophore, retinal, can be used for colour tuning of rhodopsins and altering their photocycle kinetics in several model organisms.

    • N. AzimiHashemi
    • , K. Erbguth
    •  & J. F. Liewald

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Brain–machine interfaces offer the possibility of controlling prosthetic devices using changes in brain activity. Folcher et al.couple such a system wirelessly to an optogenetic implant in mice to control expression of a transgene, demonstrating its potential for mind-controlled drug delivery.

    • Marc Folcher
    • , Sabine Oesterle
    •  & Martin Fussenegger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Monitoring neuronal activity in the rodent in vivobrain is commonly done using micro-electrode arrays but these devices are not normally compatible with optical technologies. Here the authors design a transparent and flexible electrode array based on graphene that allows them to combine electrophysiological recordings with optogenetic and imaging experiments.

    • Dong-Wook Park
    • , Amelia A. Schendel
    •  & Justin C. Williams

  • Article |

    Protein–protein interactions are fundamental to nearly all molecular and cellular processes. Here Taslimi et al.describe a versatile new optogenetic module that can be used to visualize protein–protein interactions, as well as reversibly control them with light with spatiotemporal resolution.

    • Amir Taslimi
    • , Justin D. Vrana
    •  & Chandra L. Tucker

  • Article |

    Optogenetics can be used to induce an electrical response in cardiac cells and could become an alternative to electrical cardiac pacing. Here, Boyleet al.present a modelling framework for cardiac optogenetics and explore how optogenetic stimulation might be used to alter cardiac function.

    • Patrick M. Boyle
    • , John C. Williams
    •  & Natalia A. Trayanova

  • Article |

    Light-sensitive proteins are useful tools to control protein localization and gene expression, but are currently limited to excitation with red or blue light. Here Crefcoeur et al. present a novel optogenetic system to induce protein–protein interactions with ultraviolet-B light that does not require exogenous chromophores.

    • Remco P. Crefcoeur
    • , Ruohe Yin
    •  & Thanos D. Halazonetis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Temporal lobe epilepsy in adults does not always respond to treatment. Krook-Magnuson and colleagues use optogenetics to inhibit and activate excitatory and inhibitory neurons, respectively, in a mouse model of temporal lobe epilepsy, and find that they can stop seizures on a moment-to-moment basis.

    • Esther Krook-Magnuson
    • , Caren Armstrong
    •  & Ivan Soltesz

  • Article |

    Calcium nanodomains arise from the cytoplasmic mouth of calcium channels but have not been directly visualized. In this study, the nanodomain of the CaV2.2 calcium channel is imaged using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and a genetically encoded calcium sensor attached to the carboxy terminus.

    • Lai Hock Tay
    • , Ivy E. Dick
    •  & David T. Yue

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