Optogenetic protein clustering and signaling activation in mammalian cells.
blue
CRY2/CRY2
HEK293T
NIH/3T3
Signaling cascade control
Control of cytoskeleton / cell motility / cell shape
Abstract:
We report an optogenetic method based on Arabidopsis thaliana cryptochrome 2 for rapid and reversible protein oligomerization in response to blue light. We demonstrated its utility by photoactivating the β-catenin pathway, achieving a transcriptional response higher than that obtained with the natural ligand Wnt3a. We also demonstrated the modularity of this approach by photoactivating RhoA with high spatiotemporal resolution, thereby suggesting a previously unknown mode of activation for this Rho GTPase.
