Luke D. Lavis

This study designs de novo amide ligases with a cysteine catalytic triad to selectively form amide bonds across diverse substrates, demonstrating high selectivity and applicability in synthesizing bioactive molecules.

The paper develops tools for large-scale all-optical electrophysiology to study neural circuit dynamics, excitability, and connectivity in vivo.

This paper introduces BOLT, a tool for inducible trapping, controlled release, and visualization of proteins in living cells, demonstrating its use in tracking protein and organelle dynamics.

WHaloForce is a chemigenetic tension sensor that images molecular forces in living cells and animals, revealing tissue-specific force patterns and ovulation-related molecular loading.

The paper introduces POCA, a photosensitizer platform for proximity labeling of proteins, RNA, and DNA in fixed cells without genetic engineering, demonstrating its utility across multiple molecular targets.

This paper introduces a series of spontaneously blinking dyes with adjustable duty cycles for improved single-molecule localization microscopy in cells and dense structures.

This paper introduces a single-step expansion microscopy method enabling SMLM with spontaneously blinking dyes in expanded samples, achieving nanometer-resolution imaging of cellular structures.

This study measures the voltage-to-Ca2+ transfer function in hippocampal CA2 pyramidal neurons during behavior and develops a biophysics-inspired model to predict Ca2+ signals from voltage waveforms.

This study maps dendritic membrane potential dynamics in CA1 neurons during behavior, showing dendritic spikes are driven by back-propagating action potentials and influence spiking outputs and plasticity.

The paper analyzes the relative phase of membrane potential theta oscillations between hippocampal neurons during a virtual spatial task, revealing spatially coded phase shifts independent of spiking activity.

The paper shows that presynaptic release probability, not synaptic strength, decreases with sleep loss and affects sleep need across species.

The paper designs orthogonal fluorophore-binding proteins using deep learning for multiplex imaging, demonstrating high specificity and utility in labeling and monitoring subcellular processes.

This paper designs de novo Rhodamine Binder (Rhobin) tags with high brightness, stability, and applicability in live-cell imaging and extreme conditions.

The paper introduces a far-red dopamine sensor, HaloDA1.0, enabling multiplex imaging of neurochemical networks in vivo with high sensitivity and versatility.

This paper introduces a method to image neuronal voltage with super-resolution beyond tissue scattering limits, achieving high precision in dense neuronal populations.

FilaBuster enables rapid, specific, and spatiotemporally controlled disassembly of intermediate filaments in living cells using a three-step photochemical strategy.

The paper develops an all-optical system to study whole-brain neuronal dynamics during gut interoception in zebrafish, revealing how nutrient delivery and sensory stimuli are encoded across brain regions.

The paper investigates dendritic excitations in CA1 pyramidal neurons, showing how locally generated Na+ spikes drive history-dependent spike back-propagation and influence associative plasticity.

The paper investigates VMH-coll neurons' role in defensive behavior plasticity, finding they modulate freezing and escape behaviors through inhibitory mechanisms and neuropeptide modulation.

The paper reveals that pioneer transcription factors use mesoscale chromatin confinement to efficiently search for and bind to closed chromatin regions in live cells.

The paper uses correlative single molecule lattice light sheet imaging to study nucleosome dynamics and chromatin environment interactions in live cells, revealing differential diffusion and packing with increasing chromatin density.

This paper introduces a method to create photochromic and blinking fluorophores by combining rhodamine and coumarin dyes, enhancing SMLM labeling options.

The paper develops novel fluorogens that activate FAST proteins and convert splitFAST systems into chemical dimerizers, reducing the need for protein engineering.

This study uses live-cell imaging to show ER-to-Golgi transport occurs via a dynamic ARF4 tubular-vesicular network connected to the ER and Golgi.

The paper introduces WHaloCaMP, a near-infrared calcium indicator, and demonstrates its use in imaging calcium responses in various organisms.

The paper introduces EPSILON, a technique to map AMPA receptor dynamics during memory formation and finds a correlation between synaptic plasticity and cFos expression.

The paper measures voltage dynamics in dendrites of mice neurons during synaptic input integration and action potential propagation, finding shared membrane voltage and rate-dependent propagation of back-propagating action potentials.

The paper identifies a mutation that enhances the sensitivity of a fluorescent voltage indicator, improving its ability to detect both spiking and subthreshold voltage signals in multiple organisms.

The paper develops a protein-based ticker tape system to record neural activation histories with high temporal resolution.

The paper develops DELTA, a method to measure brain-wide synaptic protein turnover at single-synapse resolution, revealing localized plasticity in hippocampal CA1 during learning.