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Updated: Nov 2, 2025

Spatiotemporal Control of Protein Activity through Optogenetic Allosteric Regulation
Published on: October 4, 2024
Optical control of targeted protein degradation
Martin Reynders1, Dirk Trauner2
1Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Department of Chemistry, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.
Abstract:
Molecular glues and proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) have emerged as small-molecule tools that selectively induce the degradation of a chosen protein and have shown therapeutic promise. Recently, several approaches employing light as an additional stimulus to control induced protein degradation have been reported. Here, we analyze the principles guiding the design of such systems, provide a survey of the literature published to date, and discuss opportunities for further development. Light-responsive degraders enable the precise temporal and spatial control of protein levels, making them useful research tools but also potential candidates for human precision medicine.
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