Engineering of a light-gated potassium channel

Authors

Christian Cosentino, Universita degli Studi di MilanoFollow
Laura Alberio, Universita degli Studi di Milano
Sabrina Gazzarrini, Universita degli Studi di Milano
Marco Aquila, Universita degli Studi di Milano
Eduardo Romano, Universita degli Studi di Milano
Solei Cermenati, Universita degli Studi di Milano
Paolo Zuccolini, Universita degli Studi di Milano
Jan Petersen, University of Glasgow, UK
Monica Beltrame, Universita degli Studi di Milano
James L. Van Etten, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
John M. Christie, University of Glasgow, UK
Gerhard Thiel, Technische Universität Darmstadt, GermanyFollow
Anna Moroni, Università degli Studi di MilanoFollow

Date of this Version

4-8-2015

Document Type

Article

Citation

Science 8 MAY 2015 • VOL 348 ISSUE 6235, pp 707-710 + supplement

Comments

(c) 2015 AAAS

Abstract

The present palette of opsin-based optogenetic tools lacks a light-gated potassium (K+) channel desirable for silencing of excitable cells. Here, we describe the construction of a blue-light–induced K+ channel 1 (BLINK1) engineered by fusing the plant LOV2-Ja photosensory module to the small viral K+ channel Kcv. BLINK1 exhibits biophysical features of Kcv, including K+ selectivity and high single-channel conductance, but reversibly photoactivates in blue light. Opening of BLINK1 channels hyperpolarizes the cell to the K+ equilibrium potential. Ectopic expression of BLINK1 reversibly inhibits the escape response in light-exposed zebrafish larvae. BLINK1 therefore provides a single-component optogenetic tool that can establish prolonged, physiological hyperpolarization of cells at low light intensities.