Abstract
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a popular vertebrate model organism to investigate molecular mechanisms driving development and disease. Due to its transparency at embryonic and larval stages, investigations in the living organism are possible with subcellular resolution using intravital microscopy. The beneficial optical characteristics of zebrafish not only allow for passive observation, but also active manipulation of proteins and cells by light using optogenetic tools. Initially, photosensitive ion channels have been applied for neurobiological studies in zebrafish to dissect complex behaviors on a cellular level. More recently, exciting non-neural optogenetic tools have been established to control gene expression or protein localization and activity, allowing for unprecedented non-invasive and precise manipulation of various aspects of cellular physiology. Zebrafish will likely be a vertebrate model organism at the forefront of in vivo application of non-neural optogenetic tools and pioneering work has already been performed. In this review, we provide an overview of non-neuromodulatory optogenetic tools successfully applied in zebrafish to control gene expression, protein localization, cell signaling, migration and cell ablation.
Highlights
Experimental control over protein function is an invaluable asset to dissect cellular processes on the molecular level
We have summarized recent studies using chimeric proteins engineered to endow light-mediated control over their activity in biological processes ranging from gene expression, cell migration, mitophagy and signaling pathways to cell ablation
light oxygen voltage (LOV) and blue light using flavin (BLUF) domain, pdDronpa, cryptochrome 2 (CRY2)-CIB, phytochrome B (PHYB)-phytochrome interacting factor (PIF), and cobalamin binding domain (CBD)-based systems have been successfully applied in zebrafish, revealing that zebrafish are generally permissive for various optogenetic systems (Table 1)
Summary
Experimental control over protein function is an invaluable asset to dissect cellular processes on the molecular level. We summarize nonneuromodulatory optogenetic tools, which have recently been applied in zebrafish to control gene expression, cell migration, protein localization, signaling pathway activity and cell death (Table 1). Blue light illumination could restore the “ntl” phenotype, revealing direct light-mediated control of a chimeric transcription factor in zebrafish.
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