Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Reporter Genes02:11

Reporter Genes

13.9K
Reporter genes are a type of protein-coding gene that are often tagged to a gene of interest. Once inside a target cell, reporter genes usually produce visually identifiable characteristics like fluorescence and luminescence when expressed along with the gene of interest. Thus, reporter genes “report” the presence or absence of genes of interest in an organism, determine the gene expression pattern, or track the physical location of a DNA segment or protein in the cell.
13.9K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

SENSIT, a Modular Single-Chain Fluorescent Integrator Platform for GPCR Ligands.

ACS chemical biology·2026
Same author

A novel directed evolution platform for engineering chemically gated protein switches.

Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)·2026
Same author

Library-on-Library Intercellular Labeling for Selection of Biotin Ligase and Acceptor Peptides.

Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology·2026
Same author

A chemogenetic approach for temporal and cell-specific activation of endogenous GPCRs in vivo.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Principles and Design of Molecular Tools for Sensing and Perturbing Cell Surface Receptor Activity.

Chemical reviews·2025
Same author

Functionalization of a versatile fluorescent sensor for detecting protease activity and temporally gated opioid sensing.

RSC chemical biology·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 14, 2026

Measuring the Kinetics of mRNA Transcription in Single Living Cells
11:22

Measuring the Kinetics of mRNA Transcription in Single Living Cells

Published on: August 25, 2011

16.2K

A Single-Chain Light-Activatable Transcriptional Reporter for Fluorescently Tagging Mammalian Cells In Vitro.

Ola Bartolik1,2, Wenjing Wang1,2,3

  • 1Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

Chembiochem : a European Journal of Chemical Biology
|April 13, 2026
PubMed
Summary

Researchers developed a Single-chain Light-Activatable Transcriptional Reporter (SLATR) for precise gene expression control. This optogenetic tool uses white light to activate fluorescent tagging in cells within minutes, offering a simpler, faster alternative.

Keywords:
AsLOV2optogeneticssingle-chaintranscriptional reporter

More Related Videos

Rapid Optimization of a Light-Inducible System to Control Mammalian Gene Expression
09:08

Rapid Optimization of a Light-Inducible System to Control Mammalian Gene Expression

Published on: November 4, 2025

501
Bioluminescent Optogenetics 2.0: Harnessing Bioluminescence to Activate Photosensory Proteins In Vitro and In Vivo
07:19

Bioluminescent Optogenetics 2.0: Harnessing Bioluminescence to Activate Photosensory Proteins In Vitro and In Vivo

Published on: August 4, 2021

5.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 14, 2026

Measuring the Kinetics of mRNA Transcription in Single Living Cells
11:22

Measuring the Kinetics of mRNA Transcription in Single Living Cells

Published on: August 25, 2011

16.2K
Rapid Optimization of a Light-Inducible System to Control Mammalian Gene Expression
09:08

Rapid Optimization of a Light-Inducible System to Control Mammalian Gene Expression

Published on: November 4, 2025

501
Bioluminescent Optogenetics 2.0: Harnessing Bioluminescence to Activate Photosensory Proteins In Vitro and In Vivo
07:19

Bioluminescent Optogenetics 2.0: Harnessing Bioluminescence to Activate Photosensory Proteins In Vitro and In Vivo

Published on: August 4, 2021

5.4K

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Optogenetics
  • Synthetic Biology

Background:

  • Optogenetic tools offer precise control over gene expression.
  • Existing systems have limitations in speed, sensitivity, or background noise.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a novel single-chain light-activatable transcriptional reporter system.
  • To achieve rapid and sensitive gene expression control using white light.

Main Methods:

  • Engineered a single-chain reporter (SLATR) utilizing a circularly permuted Avena sativa LOV2 (cpAsLOV2) domain.
  • Utilized protease cleavage triggered by white light for transcriptional factor release.
  • Assessed signal-to-background ratio and activation kinetics.

Main Results:

  • SLATR achieves reporter activation within 60 minutes of white light stimulation.
  • Demonstrated a signal-to-background ratio ranging from 3.4 to 36.
  • SLATR exhibited faster kinetics, higher light sensitivity, and lower background compared to existing systems.

Conclusions:

  • SLATR provides a simplified and efficient optogenetic system for gene expression regulation.
  • The cpAsLOV2 domain enhances performance by efficiently caging the cleavage site.
  • SLATR expands the optogenetic toolkit for precise spatiotemporal control of cellular functions.