Engineering light-controlled proteins
Date: 4.7.2014
A University of Wyoming professor has engineered proteins that can be activated by near-infrared light as a way to control biological activities in deep tissues of small mammals.
Currently, such proteins will be used as research tools to better understand the biology of diseases and the biology of organismal development, says Mark Gomelsky, a professor in the UW Department of Molecular Biology. With advances in cell engineering, he expects these proteins to aid in fighting cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.
"Near-infrared light penetrates through the tissues of animals and humans to the depth of several centimeters. We're designing proteins whose activities will respond to such light," Gomelsky says. "Mammalian cells that are genetically engineered to make such proteins can be controlled by light even in deep animal tissues. We want to design a tool set of light-activated proteins with different capabilities to enable researchers to control diverse biological processes.
"Light may seem a strange way to control cellular activities. However, if orthodox thinking is put aside, light is an ideal drug." That is because light acts specifically and activates only its engineered target without interfering with mammalian physiology, making it nontoxic, Gomelsky says. Light also offers spatial and temporal precision that no chemical can achieve.
