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Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Author Spotlight: Manipulating Signaling in Zebrafish Embryos to Decode Cell Fate Decisions
Published on: October 27, 2023
Optogenetic Control of Subcellular Protein Location and Signaling in Vertebrate Embryos
1Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. ceb85@cam.ac.uk.
Abstract:
This chapter describes the use of optogenetic heterodimerization in single cells within whole-vertebrate embryos. This method allows the use of light to reversibly bind together an "anchor" protein and a "bait" protein. Proteins can therefore be directed to specific subcellular compartments, altering biological processes such as cell polarity and signaling. I detail methods for achieving transient expression of fusion proteins encoding the phytochrome heterodimerization system in early zebrafish embryos (Buckley et al., Dev Cell 36(1):117-126, 2016) and describe the imaging parameters used to achieve subcellular light patterning.
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