Photoreceptor and optogenetics research

The paper identifies traits of bathy phytochromes and develops a far-red light-activated optogenetic system called pFREDusk.

The paper develops an all-optical system to inhibit cortical neurons and monitor responses, showing widespread suppression of sensory responses after optogenetic silencing.

The paper characterizes CryoRhodopsins from cold environments, revealing their dual functionality and structural adaptations to low temperatures.

The paper identifies novel modular rhodopsins in fungi and explores their potential opto-biotechnological applications through structural, functional, and interactome analyses.

The paper reports the cryo-EM structure of a blue-shifted channelrhodopsin from Klebsormidium nitens and develops mutants with blue-shifted action spectra.

This study evaluates RubyACRs as red-shifted optogenetic inhibitors in Drosophila, showing they effectively hyperpolarize neurons and induce circuit-specific behavioral changes.

The paper discovers a flavin-based fluorescent protein, LSSFbFP, with a large Stokes shift, achieved through excited state proton transfer, and validates its mechanism using spectroscopy and crystallography.

The paper reports light energy transfer from hydroxylated carotenoids to heimdallarchaeial rhodopsins in marine archaea, showing light-harvesting capabilities in archaea similar to bacterial rhodopsins.

This study identifies a key amino acid in human OPN5 responsible for UV sensitivity and develops visible light-sensitive variants through site-directed mutagenesis.

This study uses optogenetics to control organ growth in Drosophila by manipulating calcium signaling, revealing how light intensity and timing affect organ size and tumor morphology.

This paper introduces a dual-color optogenetic system that enables high-frequency neuronal activation with red light and precise suppression with blue light.

The paper studies how evolutionary changes in the BLUF domain of Rubellimicrobium mesophilum affect photodynamics and endonuclease activity, revealing a light-gated endonuclease mechanism.

This paper engineers thermo-responsive allosteric proteins using temperature-sensitive domains, enabling precise control of protein activity in both bacterial and mammalian systems.

The paper introduces R-LARIAT, a red light-induced protein clustering system that inhibits protein functions in HeLa cells by trapping GFP-tagged proteins, demonstrating high efficiency and stability.

This study demonstrates optogenetic modulation of peripheral sensory nerve activity in rats, showing induction and suppression of large-diameter afferents using ChR2 and eNpHR3.0.

This paper demonstrates two-photon activation and modulation of melanopsin in live cells to study its tri-stability and function.

This paper develops optogenetic tools to induce membrane rupture of specific organelles using engineered BAX proteins with light-sensitive domains.

This study develops an in-vivo optogenetic method to control MNTB activity in gerbils with fast and precise temporal control, enabling research on sound localization.

This study characterizes the blue-light responsive photoreceptor-transcription factor ToAureo1 from Thalassiosira oceanica and explores its modular properties for synthetic biology applications.

MuFIX recovers crosstalk-contaminated photometry responses by interpolating across contaminated segments using multi-frequency lock-in amplification, accurately restoring original signals.

This study characterizes AkVAL, a bistable opsin from the flashlight fish, showing its ability to control neuronal activity and body movement in response to light cycles, suggesting its potential as an optogenetic tool.

This paper characterizes a blue-sensitive, Gi/o-biased, and bistable ciliary opsin from a fan worm and explores its spectral and signaling properties through mutagenesis.

BlueBerry is a wireless optogenetic device for real-time, closed-loop manipulation of neuronal activity in freely moving animals, enabling scalable studies of social behavior and decision-making.

The paper demonstrates that echinenone-functionalized OCP requires two photons for photoprotection, revealing a sequential 2-photon absorption mechanism unique to a single biological photoreceptor.

This study develops a K+-selective channelrhodopsin for transcranial optogenetic inhibition of neuronal activity, showing reduced seizure activity in mouse models.

The paper investigates the photophysics of FRET-opsin voltage indicators and demonstrates two-photon voltage imaging in live mice using optimized protocols.

This paper describes the engineering of soluble bacteriorhodopsin analogues and reports their crystal structure, demonstrating the potential of protein engineering for developing molecular tools.

This study shows that the CRY2/CIB1 system can be used to precisely control protein localization in E. coli, enabling manipulation of cellular functions like cytokinesis.

This study uses time-resolved crystallography and MD simulations to reveal structural changes in C1C2 channelrhodopsin during activation, showing how conformational shifts enable ion conduction.

This study identifies a novel chloride counterion mechanism in coral opsins that stabilizes the Schiff base proton, enabling light sensitivity without a traditional counterion residue.