LED light technology controls proteins in living cells
The research could make it possible to cease cell division and can be applied in future cancer cell research.
The Bio-imaging Research Group of IBS, led by Won Do Heo, both a group leader from the Center for Cognition and Sociality, and a professor at the College of Life Science and Bioengineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), has developed the Light-Activated Reversible Inhibition by Assembled Trap (LARIAT).
With the LARIAT, when cells are exposed to visible blue light from LED lamps, protein clusters are formed within the cells which allows the target proteins trapped inside to de-activate protein functions.
The research group has found that this technology allows scientists to de-activate critical biological phenomena, including cell migration and cell division, by using only lights, and without the assistance of chemical drug treatments or genetic modification. The whole process can be managed by simply changing the lighting that the cell is exposed to.
“We are already conducting research on the spread of cancer, as well as brain science in animal models with the LARIAT,” professor Heo says. “I believe this technology will be a breakthrough in investigating cancer treatments and the function of neurons in a complex neural network, which existing technologies have not been able to do.”
The research results will be published in the June issue of Nature’s sister journal, Nature Methods.
Reference
Sangkyu Lee, Hyerim Park, Taeyoon Kyung, Na Yeon Kim, Sungsoo Kim, Jihoon Kim & Won Do Heo
Reversible protein inactivation by optogenetic trapping in cells
Nature Method 11, 04 May 2014; DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.2940
Related articles and links:
www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v11/n6/full/nmeth.2940.html#affil-auth
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