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Updated: Dec 15, 2025

Spatiotemporal Control of Protein Activity through Optogenetic Allosteric Regulation
Published on: October 4, 2024
Design and Application of Light-Regulated Receptor Tyrosine Kinases
Stephanie Kainrath1,2,3, Harald Janovjak4,5
1Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Klosterneuburg, Austria.
Abstract:
Understanding how the activity of membrane receptors and cellular signaling pathways shapes cell behavior is of fundamental interest in basic and applied research. Reengineering receptors to react to light instead of their cognate ligands allows for generating defined signaling inputs with high spatial and temporal precision and facilitates the dissection of complex signaling networks. Here, we describe fundamental considerations in the design of light-regulated receptor tyrosine kinases (Opto-RTKs) and appropriate control experiments. We also introduce methods for transient receptor expression in HEK293 cells, quantitative assessment of signaling activity in reporter gene assays, semiquantitative assessment of (in)activation time courses through Western blot (WB) analysis, and easy to implement light stimulation hardware.
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