title: Optogenetic oligomerization of Rab GTPases regulates intracellular membrane trafficking.
abstract: Intracellular membrane trafficking, which is involved in diverse cellular processes, is dynamic and difficult to study in a spatiotemporal manner. Here we report an optogenetic strategy, termed light-activated reversible inhibition by assembled trap of intracellular membranes (IM-LARIAT), that uses various Rab GTPases combined with blue-light-induced hetero-interaction between cryptochrome 2 and CIB1. In this system, illumination induces a rapid and reversible intracellular membrane aggregation that disrupts the dynamics and functions of the targeted membrane. We applied IM-LARIAT to specifically perturb several Rab-mediated trafficking processes, including receptor transport, protein sorting and secretion, and signaling initiated from endosomes. We finally used this tool to reveal different functions of local Rab5-mediated and Rab11-mediated membrane trafficking in growth cones and soma of young hippocampal neurons. Our results show that IM-LARIAT is a versatile tool that can be used to dissect spatiotemporal functions of intracellular membranes in diverse systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Mai Khanh
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Cha Yeon
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Man
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byung Ouk
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sangkyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyerim
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea.|Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon, Republic of Korea.|KAIST Institute for the BioCentury, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Won Do
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Heo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019556:COS Cells; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D020439:Growth Cones / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology; D062308:Optogenetics / Q000379:methods*; D055503:Protein Multimerization / Q000528:radiation effects*; D021381:Protein Transport / Q000528:radiation effects; D020691:rab GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020691:rab GTP-Binding Proteins