The past, present and future of light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.

Sheena A Josselyn

doi:10.7554/elife.42367

Abstract

The discovery of the mechanisms underlying light-gated ion channels called channelrhodospins and the subsequent development of optogenetics illustrates how breakthroughs in science and technology can span multiple levels of scientific inquiry. Our knowledge of how channelrhodopsins work emerged from research at the microscopic level that investigated the structure and function of algal proteins. Optogenetics, on the other hand, exploits the power of channelrhodospins and similar proteins to investigate phenomena at the supra-macroscopic level, notably the neural circuits involved in animal behavior that may be relevant for understanding neuropsychiatric disease. This article is being published to celebrate Peter Hegemann, Karl Deisseroth and Ed Boyden receiving a 2018 Canada Gairdner International Award "for the discovery of light-gated ion channel mechanisms, and for the discovery of optogenetics, a technology that has revolutionized neuroscience".

Highlights

SHEENA A JOSSELYNChannelrhodospins are unique in that they are the only class of lightactivated ion channels identified in biology to date
The discovery of the mechanisms underlying light-gated ion channels called channelrhodospins and the subsequent development of optogenetics illustrates how breakthroughs in science and technology can span multiple levels of scientific inquiry
Channelrhodospins are unique in that they are the only class of lightactivated ion channels identified in biology to date

Summary

SHEENA A JOSSELYN

Channelrhodospins are unique in that they are the only class of lightactivated ion channels identified in biology to date. They are the foundations on which the research that is being recognized by one of the 2018 Canada Gairdner International Awards was built. Peter Hegemann and colleagues studied the behavior of the single-celled green alga Chlamydomonas. These algae alter the direction in which they swim in response to flashes of light. The high-resolution crystal structures of the cation-conducting channelrhodopsins were solved earlier this decade (Kato et al, 2012), and the structures of anion-conducting channelrhodopsins have just been solved (Kim et al, 2018; Kato et al, 2018)

Feature article

The future of optogenetics