!!!Red light controls signaling in cells


[{Image src='cells.jpg' caption='signaling in cells\\Photo: IST' alt='signaling in cells' width='400' class='image_left' height='217'}]

Optogenetics now enables the development of new  methods that can be used like light switches to turn  on and off specific processes in cells. Optogenetic  methods are based on the isolation and modification of light-sensitive proteins in a first step and  their subsequent incorporation into an individual  target cell or an entire tissue. A paper by IST Austria  researchers published in  Angewandte [Chemie|Thema/Chemie] International Edition describes successful red light  experiments. Compared with the blue light mostly  used in current approaches, red light has major  benefits, particularly with respect to applications in  model systems for diseases. Red light can penetrate deep tissues and can be employed without  surgery in a non-invasive way; it has minimal cytotoxicity for human and animal tissues and has no  effects on fluorescent proteins. Often used for various applications in research labs, florescent proteins tend to be activated or bleached by blue light.  

For the light-sensitive protein, IST Austria Professor  Harald Janovjak and his research group chose a  photoreceptor which can be activated by red light.  This photoreceptor was found in the cyanobacterium Synechocystos. In their study the authors  modified the receptor and fused it with a mammalian receptor, which has been found significant  for many diseases. Later, they successfully demonstrated in experiments that the red-light activation  of the fused receptor could activate a signal pathway that plays a crucial role in cell division.  

As a rule, cell division is activated by so-called  growth factors. They are the reason why two receptors undergo a binding and activation process,  marking the start of cell division. The researchers  managed to induce the binding and activation process by combining the receptors and using red  light. Additionally, they showed that the fused receptor could be activated by red light even across tissue in cells which are used in model studies for diabetes.  


[{SET blogdate='1.8.2016 14:13'}]


[{Metadata Suchbegriff=' ' Kontrolle='Nein' NWS-Kategorie='Chemie|Biotechnologie'}]