Shedding light on current trends in molecular optogenetics

Alexandra A M Fischer; Markus M Kramer; Gerald Radziwill; Wilfried Weber

doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2022.102196

Shedding light on current trends in molecular optogenetics

Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2022 Oct:70:102196. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2022.102196. Epub 2022 Aug 18.

Authors

Alexandra A M Fischer¹, Markus M Kramer¹, Gerald Radziwill¹, Wilfried Weber²

Affiliations

¹ Signalling Research Centres BIOSS and CIBSS, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestraße 18, 79104 Freiburg, Germany; Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestraße 18, 79104 Freiburg, Germany; Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine (SGBM), University of Freiburg, Albertstrasse 21a, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
² Signalling Research Centres BIOSS and CIBSS, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestraße 18, 79104 Freiburg, Germany; Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestraße 18, 79104 Freiburg, Germany; Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine (SGBM), University of Freiburg, Albertstrasse 21a, 79104 Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address: wilfried.weber@biologie.uni-freiburg.de.

PMID: 35988347
DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2022.102196

Abstract

Molecular optogenetics is a highly dynamic research field. In the past two years, the field was characterized by the development of new allosteric switches as well as the forward integration of optogenetics research towards application. Further, two areas of research have significantly gathered momentum, the use of optogenetics to control liquid-liquid phase separation as well as the application of optogenetic tools in the extracellular space. Here, we review these areas and discuss future directions.

Keywords: Extracellular optogenetics; Liquid–liquid phase separation; Molecular photoswitches; Non-opsin-based optogenetics.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Optogenetics* / trends
Research / trends