Photocontrolled Exposure of Pro-apoptotic Peptide Sequences in LOV Proteins Modulates Bcl-2 Family Interactions

LOV domains act as biomolecular sensors for light, oxygen or the environment's redox potential. Conformational changes upon the formation of a covalent cysteinyl flavin adduct are propagated through hydrogen-bonding networks in the core of designed hybrid phototropin LOV2 domains that incorporate the Bcl homology region 3 (BH3) of the key pro-apoptotic protein BH3-interacting-domain death agonist (BID). The resulting change in conformation of a flanking amphiphilic α-helix creates a light-dependent optogenetic tool for the modulation of interactions with the anti-apoptotic B-cell leukaemia-2 (Bcl-2) family member Bcl-xL .