Nature Methods study: Using light to control cell clustering

New study advances leading-edge field of optogenetics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and UC Berkeley

2013-02-12

(Press-News.org) Troy, N.Y. – A new study from engineers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of California, Berkeley, pairs light and genetics to give researchers a powerful new tool for manipulating cells. Results of the study, published in the journal Nature Methods, show how blue light can be used as a switch to prompt targeted proteins to accumulate into large clusters.

This process of clustering, or oligomerization, is commonly employed by nature to turn on or turn off specific signaling pathways used in cells' complex system of communications. The new study details how this process can be replicated with great precision, giving researchers new capabilities to control and influence the process of oligomerization and cell signaling.

Ravi Kane, the P.K. Lashmet Professor in the Howard P. Isermann Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and faculty member of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Rensselaer, co-led the study with Professor David Schaffer of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the UC Berkeley. This study was made possible with support from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Science.

"Our study shows a new use for using energy, in this case light, as a tool to understand and control cellular function. In this study, we demonstrated a new method for turning specific cell signaling pathways on and off with spatial and temporal precision, and use this to help better understand the dynamics of the pathway. At the same time, our technique can be used to control certain cell functions," Kane and Schaffer said.

Looking ahead, Kane said, it is possible the new process may also one day be able to help optimize cellular function and produce products of interest to energy production, such as biofuels.

Results of the study, titled "Optogenetic protein clustering and signaling activation in mammalian cells," were published online last week by Nature Methods and will appear in a future print edition of the journal. The study may be viewed online at: http://go.nature.com/jPqpHa

Light is an attractive tool to manipulate oligomerization, Kane said, because of three properties: most biological cells do not normally react or respond to light; light is easy to make; and researchers can easily control light properties including its color and intensity. In this new study, the research team shined blue light onto cells containing a bioengineered protein, and by doing so they were able to activate cell signaling more effectively than they could using the natural ligand Wnt3a. This protein clustering induced by shining light was reversible—upon removing the blue light, the cluster broke up within a few minutes. The researchers also demonstrated how to use this modular technique to cluster proteins that control cell shape.

"The new process can be applied to many different types of proteins, signaling pathways, and cells," said study co-author Lukasz Bugaj, graduate student at UC Berkeley. The research team plans to continue investigating new ways of controlling different aspects of cells and cellular function with light.

INFORMATION:

Along with Kane, Schaffer, and Bugaj, co-authors of the paper are UC Berkeley graduate student Colin Mesuda and research assistant Atri Choksi.

For more information on Kane and his research at Rensselaer, visit: Rensselaer Researchers Develop Coating That Safely Kills MRSA on Contact http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2759 Q&A: 3° with Ravi Kane http://approach.rpi.edu/2009/04/15/3%C2%B0-with-ravi-kane/ Using Carbon Nanotubes To Seek and Destroy Anthrax Toxin and Other Harmful Proteins http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2369 Seaweed Transformed Into Stem Cell Technology http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2351 Kane Named P.K. Lashmet Professor at Rensselaer http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2515 Kane Wins 2009 ACS Young Investigator Award http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2556 Kane Wins AIChE Young Investigator Award http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2481

Contact
Michael Mullaney
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY
518-276-6161
mullam@rpi.edu www.rpi.edu/news

Visit the Rensselaer research and discovery blog: http://approach.rpi.edu Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RPInews

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Opioid prescription is on the increase

2013-02-12

More and more opioids are being prescribed for pain relief in Germany. This is the conclusion arrived at by Ingrid Schubert, Peter Ihle, and Rainer Sabatowski, whose study of a sample of inhabitants of the state of Hesse with health insurance from a large statutory provider is published in the latest issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2013; 110(4): 45-51). Behind this study lies the intention to improve pain treatment with opioids, particularly for patients with cancer. Prescribing too little results in inadequate alleviation of pain, while ...

New study finds neither HFCS nor table sugar increases liver fat under 'real world' conditions

2013-02-12

SHREWSBURY, MA -- A study published today in the Journal of Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism presented compelling data showing the consumption of both high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and sucrose (table sugar) at levels consistent with average daily consumption do not increase liver fat in humans, a leading cause of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The findings also add to an already well-established body of science that high fructose corn syrup and table sugar are metabolically equivalent. Increased fat levels in the liver and muscle tissue have ...

Helping or hovering? A parent's dilemma

2013-02-12

When is it time for parents to back away? A new study shows that college students with overcontrolling parents are more likely to be depressed and less satisfied with their lives. This so-called helicopter parenting style negatively affects students' well-being by violating their need to feel both autonomous and competent. The work, by Holly Schiffrin and colleagues from the University of Mary Washington in the United States, is published online in Springer's Journal of Child and Family Studies. Parental overinvolvement may lead to negative outcomes in children, including ...

Novel protein may help detect Lou Gehrig's disease and dementia, Mayo Clinic finds

2013-02-12

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Researchers at Mayo Clinic have discovered an abnormal protein that accumulates in the brains of many patients affected with two common neurodegenerative disorders — amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, and frontotemporal dementia. They say their findings have uncovered a potentially new therapeutic target and biomarker that would allow clinicians to confirm diagnosis of the diseases. The study is published online today in the journal Neuron. The Mayo research team, led by scientists at Mayo Clinic's campus in ...

The Geological Society of America Journal Geology: Dynamic geoscience

2013-02-12

Boulder, Colo., USA – New Geology science posted online ahead of print on 7 February 2013 draws on data from several sites in the U.S., as well as work in Christchurch, New Zealand, Argentina, South Australia, Japan, the southeastern Pacific, South Africa, and Mars. Tectonics, flooding, carbon storage, fossils, earthquakes, aeolian transport, and volcanoes are discussed. Brief highlights follow. Papers cover 1. The sedimentary fingerprint of the 2011 Mississippi River flood across the Louisiana coast 2. Evidence of extinction in the Confusion Range in western Utah 3. ...

Name-brand or generic? Your political ideology might influence your choice

2013-02-12

Conservatives and liberals don't just differ when it comes to politics, they may also make different purchases at the grocery store, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Psychological research has shown that conservatives and liberals differ on basic personality traits such as conscientiousness, tolerance for uncertainty, and openness to new experience. Researcher Vishal Singh of New York University Stern School of Business and colleagues hypothesized that the conservative tendency to prefer ...

Youths with autism spectrum disorder need help transitioning to adult health care

2013-02-12

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Health care transition (HCT) services help young people with special health care needs such as asthma or diabetes move from pediatric to adult health care. However, youths with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have less access to these services, which are designed to prevent gaps in care and insurance coverage. A University of Missouri researcher recommends that the medical community develop HCT services for individuals with ASD as a way to ensure consistent and coordinated care and increase their independence and quality of life. Nancy Cheak-Zamora, an ...

Field experiment finds significant electoral fraud in Moscow

2013-02-12

A large-scale field experiment conducted during the December 2011 parliamentary elections in Russia suggests that fraud had a significant impact on the results. The research marks an advance in efforts to quantify vote fraud. The researchers, including a visiting research scholar at Princeton University, estimate that fraud accounted for at least 11 percentage points of the vote recorded for the ruling United Russia party in Moscow. They estimated that the party received at least 635,000 votes in the city as a result of fraud in the election, which resulted in United ...

'Get off my lawn:' Song sparrows escalate territorial threats – with video

2013-02-12

Territorial song sparrows use increasingly threatening signals to ward off trespassing rivals. First an early warning that matches the intruder's song, then wing waving – a bird's version of "flipping the bird" – as the dispute heats up, and finally, if all other signals have failed, attack. This hierarchical warning scheme, discovered by researchers at the University of Washington, adds nuance to a communication system that has been long-used as a model to study how people use and learn language "This is one of the most complicated communication systems outside of ...

Study examines Medicaid drug selection committees, potential conflicts of interest

2013-02-12

An analysis of policy documents from Medicaid programs, suggests that current policies to manage conflicts of interest (COIs) of members of Medicaid drug selection committees are not transparent and vary widely, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. It is important to manage COI for formulary drug selections or reimbursement to ensure that products are selected based on evidence and with minimal bias and to protect against pharmaceutical industry influence, according to the study background. In an analysis, ...

Synchronization between the central circadian clock and the circadian clocks of tissues preserves their functioning and prevents ageing

Physicists arrange atoms in extremely close proximity

Scientists track ‘doubling’ in origin of cancer cells

[Press-News.org] Nature Methods study: Using light to control cell clustering
New study advances leading-edge field of optogenetics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and UC Berkeley

Nature Methods study: Using light to control cell clustering

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: