Developing and implementing novel light-switches in the nervous system of the nematode

• Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Alexander Gottschalk
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Biophysik
• Förderung: Förderung von 2010 bis 2017
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 119438981

Optical methods for exogenous and non-invasive control of neuronal activity allow detailed analyses of neural circuits and synaptic transmission. We established “optogenetics” in an animal model, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, using Channelrhodopsin-2 and Halorhodopsin, to control the membrane potential of neurons bidirectionally and to trigger, inhibit or perturb behaviours regulated by the respective cells, in live animals. The success of this approach prompts our interest to improve current tools and to find additional light-activated proteins and enzymes to control other cellular processes, not only in neurons. We will implement such “light-switches”, studied and/or generated by members of the FOR, in different C. elegans neurons. This includes photo-activated adenylate cyclase (PAC), a guanylate cyclase (to be developed), Channelrhodopsin variants and other rhodopsins (Bacteriorhodopsin, Proteorhodopsin), for which colour-variants are available. Additionally, we will implement the light-activated glutamate receptor, LiGluR, and generate a light-activated acetylcholine receptor (LiAChR). Introducing these tools into different sensory neurons or interneurons of C. elegans, we will study mechanisms of habituation of sensory perception, either within the sensory cells, at their output synapses, or in downstream interneurons.

• DFG-Verfahren: Forschungsgruppen
• Teilprojekt zu: FOR 1279: "Protein-based Photoswitches" as optogenetic tools