PACmn for improved optogenetic control of intracellular cAMP
10/18/2021
PACmn for improved optogenetic control of intracellular cAMP
Shang Yang, Oana M. Constantin, Divya Sachidanandan, Hannes Hofmann, Tobias C. Kunz, Vera Kozjak-Pavlovic, Thomas G. Oertner, Georg Nagel, Robert J. Kittel, Christine E. Gee, Shiqiang Gao
BMC Biology volume 19, Article number: 227 (2021)
Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is a ubiquitous second messenger that transduces extracellular signals in virtually all eukaryotic cells. The soluble Beggiatoa photoactivatable adenylyl cyclase (bPAC) rapidly raises cAMP in blue light and has been used to study cAMP signaling pathways cell-autonomously. But low activity in the dark might raise resting cAMP in cells expressing bPAC, and most eukaryotic cyclases are membrane-targeted rather than soluble. Our aim was to engineer a plasma membrane-anchored PAC with no dark activity (i.e., no cAMP accumulation in the dark) that rapidly increases cAMP when illuminated.
