Functional Studies of Volvox Channelrhodopsin Chimeras

Abstract

Recently, two new members of the channelrhodopsin family have been discovered in the multicellular green alga Volvox carteri and named VChR1 and VChR2. VChR2 shows a similar characteristic to the known Chlamydomonas ChR2 [1], which is successfully employed in optogenetics. It shows a maximum absorption at 470nm and can be well expressed in eukaryotic cells like HEK293T cells. In contrast, VChR1 shows the most red-shifted absorption peaking at 540nm. It has been successfully used to depolarize hippocampus cells even at 590nm [2].