title: Optogenetic control of molecular motors and organelle distributions in cells.
abstract: Intracellular transport and distribution of organelles play important roles in diverse cellular functions, including cell polarization, intracellular signaling, cell survival, and apoptosis. Here, we report an optogenetic strategy to control the transport and distribution of organelles by light. This is achieved by optically recruiting molecular motors onto organelles through the heterodimerization of Arabidopsis thaliana cryptochrome 2 (CRY2) and its interacting partner CIB1. CRY2 and CIB1 dimerize within subseconds upon exposure to blue light, which requires no exogenous ligands and low intensity of light. We demonstrate that mitochondria, peroxisomes, and lysosomes can be driven toward the cell periphery upon light-induced recruitment of kinesin, or toward the cell nucleus upon recruitment of dynein. Light-induced motor recruitment and organelle movements are repeatable, reversible, and can be achieved at subcellular regions. This light-controlled organelle redistribution provides a new strategy for studying the causal roles of organelle transport and distribution in cellular functions in living cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Liting
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Daphne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Che
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Qunxiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Shunling
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Electronic address: bcui@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Bianxiao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cui
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000378:metabolism; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000528:radiation effects; D019556:COS Cells; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D056931:Cryptochromes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016547:Kinesins / Q000378:metabolism; D007700:Kinetics; D008027:Light; D008247:Lysosomes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D062308:Optogenetics; D011485:Protein Binding; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D056931:Cryptochromes; D016547:Kinesins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C533832:CIB1 protein, Arabidopsis; C103618:CRY2 protein, Arabidopsis