Expanding the optogenetic toolkit with a photocleavable protein and a near infrared pH indicator

TL;DR: Using the use of the Sapphire-DsRed pair rendered the red cameleon tolerant of acidosis occurring in hippocampal neurons, because both Sapphire and DsRed are extremely pH-resistant.

TL;DR: OptoSTIM1 as discussed by the authors is an optogenetic tool for manipulating intracellular Ca2+ levels through activation of Ca2-selective endogenous Ca 2+ release−activated (CRAC) channels.

TL;DR: A targeting strategy to selectively express the light-driven proton pump Arch3 on synaptic vesicles is presented, enabling optogenetic control of vesicular acidification and neurotransmitter accumulation in intracellular organelles.

TL;DR: Current knowledge of engineering of light-sensitive proteins including light-oxygen-voltage-sensing domain (LOV), cryptochrome (CRY2), phytochrome (PhyB and BphP), and fluorescent protein (FP)-based photosensitive domains (Dronpa and PhoCl) are summarized.

TL;DR: The development and applications of Cas9 are described for a variety of research or translational applications while highlighting challenges as well as future directions.

TL;DR: A unified characterization of the best available FPs provides a useful guide in narrowing down the options for biological imaging tools.

TL;DR: Cryo-electron microscopy of two-dimensional rhodopsin crystals provided the first views of the seven transmembrane helices forming the core of the protein's structure, making it a prime candidate for biophysical studies.

TL;DR: By reducing the size of the transposed sequence, it is concluded that Pro-Lys- lys- Lys-Arg-L Lys-Val can act as a nuclear location signal and may represent a prototype of similar sequences in other nuclear proteins.