Genetically Encoded Light-activated Transcription for Spatiotemporal Control of Gene Expression and Gene Silencing in Mammalian Cells

Overview

Journal J Am Chem Soc

Publisher American Chemical Society

Specialty Chemistry

Date 2013 Aug 13

PMID 23931657

Citations 43

Authors

James Hemphill

Chungjung Chou

Jason W Chin

Alexander Deiters

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Photocaging provides a method to spatially and temporally control biological function and gene expression with high resolution. Proteins can be photochemically controlled through the site-specific installation of caging groups on amino acid side chains that are essential for protein function. The photocaging of a synthetic gene network using unnatural amino acid mutagenesis in mammalian cells was demonstrated with an engineered bacteriophage RNA polymerase. A caged T7 RNA polymerase was expressed in cells with an expanded genetic code and used in the photochemical activation of genes under control of an orthogonal T7 promoter, demonstrating tight spatial and temporal control. The synthetic gene expression system was validated with two reporter genes (luciferase and EGFP) and applied to the light-triggered transcription of short hairpin RNA constructs for the induction of RNA interference.

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