The light-based control of ion channels has been transformative for the neurosciences, but
the optogenetic toolkit does not stop there. An expanding number of proteins and cellular …

Photochromic materials are a family of compounds which undergo photo-reversible
transformations between two different isomers with distinct physical and chemical properties …

Post-translational regulation of protein abundance in cells is a powerful tool for studying
protein function. Here, we describe a novel genetically encoded protein domain that is …

Optical dimerizers are a powerful new class of optogenetic tools that allow light-inducible
control of protein–protein interactions. Such tools have been useful for regulating cellular …

The ability to induce and study neuronal plasticity in single dendritic spines has greatly
advanced our understanding of the signaling mechanisms that mediate long-term …

A common strategy to understand a biological system is to selectively perturb it and observe
its response. Although technologies now exist to manipulate cellular systems at the genetic …

Optogenetics, the use of genetically encoded tools to control protein function with light, can
generate localized changes in signaling within living cells and animals. For years it has …

Highlights•Basic principles and specific photochemical reactions in fluorescent proteins are
described.•Irreversible and reversible light-induced chromophore transformations are …

The α-helix is a ubiquitous secondary structural element that is almost exclusively observed
in proteins when stabilized by tertiary or quaternary interactions. However, beginning with …

Light-triggered gene expression systems offer an unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution
that cannot be achieved with classical chemically inducible genetic tools. Here we describe …