Optimized light-inducible transcription in mammalian cells using Flavin Kelch-repeat F-box1/GIGANTEA and CRY2/CIB1.
                            
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                                CRY2/CIB1
                            
                                FKF1/GI
                            
                            
                                
                                    HEK293T
                                
                            
                                
                                    human primary dermal fibroblasts
                                
                            
                                
                                    isolated MEFs
                                
                            
                                
                                    NIH/3T3
                                
                            
                            
                                Transgene expression
                            
                            
                            
                            
                            
                        
                        
                        
                        
                            Abstract:
                            Light-inducible systems allow spatiotemporal control of a variety of biological activities. Here, we report newly optimized optogenetic tools to induce transcription with light in mammalian cells, using the Arabidopsis photoreceptor Flavin Kelch-repeat F-box 1 (FKF1) and its binding partner GIGANTEA (GI) as well as CRY2/CIB1. By combining the mutagenesis of FKF1 with the optimization of a split FKF1/GI dimerized Gal4-VP16 transcriptional system, we identified constructs enabling significantly improved light-triggered transcriptional induction. In addition, we have improved the CRY2/CIB1-based light-inducible transcription with split construct optimization. The improvements regarding the FKF1/GI- and CRY2/CIB1-based systems will be widely applicable for the light-dependent control of transcription in mammalian cells.