Abstract
Optogenetic (photo-responsive) actuators engineered from photoreceptors are widely used in various applications to study cell biology and tissue physiology. In the toolkit of optogenetic actuators, the key building blocks are genetically encodable light-sensitive proteins. Currently, most optogenetic photosensory modules are engineered from naturally-occurring photoreceptor proteins from bacteria, fungi, and plants. There is a growing demand for novel photosensory domains with improved optical properties and light-induced responses to satisfy the needs of a wider variety of studies in biological sciences. In this review, we focus on progress towards engineering of non-opsin-based photosensory domains, and their representative applications in cell biology and physiology. We summarize current knowledge of engineering of light-sensitive proteins including light-oxygen-voltage-sensing domain (LOV), cryptochrome (CRY2), phytochrome (PhyB and BphP), and fluorescent protein (FP)-based photosensitive domains (Dronpa and PhoCl).
Highlights
Optogenetics, a set of technologies that involves the use of light and genetically encoded photo-responsive proteins to control cellular activities, has enabled a tremendous number of biological breakthroughs in recent years [1–3]
Taking the Avena sativa phototropin 1 LOV2 (AsLOV2) [88,94] as an example, we summarize the lifetimes of previously reported Avena sativa phototropin LOV2 (AsLOV2) variants (Table 1)
TULIPs system with various mutated LOV2 variants have been successfully applied for optical control of mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation [49]
Summary
Optogenetics, a set of technologies that involves the use of light and genetically encoded photo-responsive proteins to control cellular activities, has enabled a tremendous number of biological breakthroughs in recent years [1–3]. Numerous emerging optogenetic tools have brought new insights into modern neurobiology and cell physiology by enabling fast and reversible control of transient activities [4]. This combination of light and genetic engineering provides substantial advantages towards the investigation of many biological processes, such as uncovering the mechanism of complex processes in the brain (e.g., learning [5], sleep [6], addiction [7], and movement [8]), and understanding the pathology of neurological disorders [9–11]. These opsin-based tools have been extensively developed into a variety of variants, enabling optical control of the activities over a range of timescales These variants involve different transduction mechanisms, and can be excited by various wavelengths [12,33,34]. We aim to provide a timely overview of the engineering of non-opsin-based photosensory proteins and their representative applications in subcellular levels
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
