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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Electromechanical Assessment of Optogenetically Modulated Cardiomyocyte Activity
Published on: March 5, 2020
Photochemical control of endogenous ion channels and cellular excitability
Doris L Fortin1, Matthew R Banghart, Timothy W Dunn
1Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California Berkeley, 121 Life Sciences Addition, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Abstract:
Light-activated ion channels provide a precise and noninvasive optical means for controlling action potential firing, but the genes encoding these channels must first be delivered and expressed in target cells. Here we describe a method for bestowing light sensitivity onto endogenous ion channels that does not rely on exogenous gene expression. The method uses a synthetic photoisomerizable small molecule, or photoswitchable affinity label (PAL), that specifically targets K+ channels. PALs contain a reactive electrophile, enabling covalent attachment of the photoswitch to naturally occurring nucleophiles in K+ channels. Ion flow through PAL-modified channels is turned on or off by photoisomerizing PAL with different wavelengths of light. We showed that PAL treatment confers light sensitivity onto endogenous K+ channels in isolated rat neurons and in intact neural structures from rat and leech, allowing rapid optical regulation of excitability without genetic modification.
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