Andreas Möglich

Structure and Function of Plant Photoreceptors

Signaling photoreceptors use the information contained in the absorption of a photon to modulate biological activity in plants and a wide range of organisms. The fundamental-and as yet imperfectly answered-question is, how is this achieved at the molecular level? We adopt the perspective of biophysicists interested in light-dependent signal transduction in nature and the three-dimensional structures that underpin signaling. Six classes of photoreceptors are known: light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) sensors, xanthopsins, phytochromes, blue-light sensors using flavin adenine dinucleotide (BLUF), cryptochromes, and rhodopsins. All are water-soluble proteins except rhodopsins, which are integral membrane proteins; all are based on a modular architecture except cryptochromes and rhodopsins; and each displays a distinct, light-dependent chemical process based on the photochemistry of their nonprotein chromophore, such as isomerization about a double bond (xanthopsins, phytochromes, and rhodopsins), formation or rupture of a covalent bond (LOV sensors), or electron transfer (BLUF sensors and cryptochromes).

Design and Signaling Mechanism of Light-Regulated Histidine Kinases

Signal transduction proteins are organized into sensor (input) domains that perceive a signal and, in response, regulate the biological activity of effector (output) domains. We reprogrammed the input signal specificity of a normally oxygen-sensitive, light-inert histidine kinase by replacing its chemosensor domain by a light-oxygen-voltage photosensor domain. Illumination of the resultant fusion kinase YF1 reduced net kinase activity by approximately 1000-fold in vitro. YF1 also controls gene expression in a light-dependent manner in vivo. Signals are transmitted from the light-oxygen-voltage sensor domain to the histidine kinase domain via a 40 degrees -60 degrees rotational movement within an alpha-helical coiled-coil linker; light is acting as a rotary switch. These signaling principles are broadly applicable to domains linked by alpha-helices and to chemo- and photosensors. Conserved sequence motifs guide the rational design of light-regulated variants of histidine kinases and other proteins.

End-to-end distance distributions and intrachain diffusion constants in unfolded polypeptide chains indicate intramolecular hydrogen bond formation

Characterization of the unfolded state is essential for the understanding of the protein folding reaction. We performed time-resolved FRET measurements to gain information on the dimensions and the internal dynamics of unfolded polypeptide chains. Using an approach based on global analysis of data obtained from two different donor–acceptor pairs allowed for the determination of distance distribution functions and diffusion constants between the chromophores. Results on a polypeptide chain consisting of 16 Gly-Ser repeats between the FRET chromophores reveal an increase in the average end-to-end distance from 18.9 to 39.2 Å between 0 and 8 M GdmCl. The increase in chain dimensions is accompanied by an increase in the end-to-end diffusion constant from (3.6 ± 1.0) × 10−7 cm2 s−1 in water to (14.8 ± 2.5) × 10−7 cm2 s−1 in 8 M GdmCl. This finding suggests that intrachain interactions in water exist even in very flexible chains lacking hydrophobic groups, which indicates intramolecular hydrogen bond formation. The interactions are broken upon denaturant binding, which leads to increased chain flexibility and longer average end-to-end distances. This finding implies that rapid collapse of polypeptide chains during refolding of denaturant-unfolded proteins is an intrinsic property of polypeptide chains and can, at least in part, be ascribed to nonspecific intramolecular hydrogen bonding. Despite decreased intrachain diffusion constants, the conformational search is accelerated in the collapsed state because of shorter diffusion distances. The measured distance distribution functions and diffusion constants in combination with Szabo–Schulten–Schulten theory were able to reproduce experimentally determined rate constants for end-to-end loop formation.

From Dusk till Dawn: One-Plasmid Systems for Light-Regulated Gene Expression

Signaling photoreceptors mediate diverse organismal adaptations in response to light. As light-gated protein switches, signaling photoreceptors provide the basis for optogenetics, a term that refers to the control of organismal physiology and behavior by light. We establish as novel optogenetic tools the plasmids pDusk and pDawn, which employ blue-light photoreceptors to confer light-repressed or light-induced gene expression in Escherichia coli with up to 460-fold induction upon illumination. Key features of these systems are low background activity, high dynamic range, spatial control on the 20-μm scale, independence from exogenous factors, and ease of use. In optogenetic experiments, pDusk and pDawn can be used to specifically perturb individual nodes of signaling networks and interrogate their role. On the preparative scale, pDawn can induce by light the production of recombinant proteins and thus represents a cost-effective and readily automated alternative to conventional induction systems.

Channelrhodopsin engineering and exploration of new optogenetic tools

Rhodopsins from microalgae and eubacteria are powerful tools for manipulating the function of neurons and other cells, but these tools still have limitations. We discuss engineering approaches that can help advance optogenetics.

Engineering of a red-light-activated human cAMP/cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase

Significance Sensory photoreceptors not only enable organisms to derive spatial and temporal cues from incident light but also provide the basis for optogenetics, which denotes the manipulation by light of living systems with supreme spatial and temporal resolution. To expand the scope of optogenetics, we have engineered the light-activated phosphodiesterase LAPD, which degrades the ubiquitous second messengers cAMP and cGMP in a red-light–stimulated manner. Both cAMP and cGMP are key to the regulation of manifold physiological responses, and LAPD now augurs red-light control over these processes. As we demonstrate for two eukaryotic systems, LAPD does not require any additional exogenous factors, and thus permits the light perturbation of living cells in hitherto unrealized ways. Sensory photoreceptors elicit vital physiological adaptations in response to incident light. As light-regulated actuators, photoreceptors underpin optogenetics, which denotes the noninvasive, reversible, and spatiotemporally precise perturbation by light of living cells and organisms. Of particular versatility, naturally occurring photoactivated adenylate cyclases promote the synthesis of the second messenger cAMP under blue light. Here, we have engineered a light-activated phosphodiesterase (LAPD) with complementary light sensitivity and catalytic activity by recombining the photosensor module of Deinococcus radiodurans bacterial phytochrome with the effector module of Homo sapiens phosphodiesterase 2A. Upon red-light absorption, LAPD up-regulates hydrolysis of cAMP and cGMP by up to sixfold, whereas far-red light can be used to down-regulate activity. LAPD also mediates light-activated cAMP and cGMP hydrolysis in eukaryotic cell cultures and in zebrafish embryos; crucially, the biliverdin chromophore of LAPD is available endogenously and does not need to be provided exogenously. LAPD thus establishes a new optogenetic modality that permits light control over diverse cAMP/cGMP-mediated physiological processes. Because red light penetrates tissue more deeply than light of shorter wavelengths, LAPD appears particularly attractive for studies in living organisms.

Addition at the molecular level: signal integration in designed Per-ARNT-Sim receptor proteins.

Survival of organisms in dynamic environments requires accurate perception and integration of signals. At the molecular level, signal detection is mediated by signal receptor proteins that largely are of modular composition. Sensor modules, such as the widespread Per-ARNT-Sim (PAS) domains, detect signals and, in response, regulate the biological activity of effector modules. Here, we exploit the modularity of signal receptors to design and engineer synthetic receptors that comprise two PAS sensor domains responsive to different signals, and we use these signals to control the activity of a histidine kinase effector. Designed two-input PAS receptors detected oxygen and blue light in a positive cooperative manner. The extent of the response to the signals was dictated by domain topology: the dominant regulatory effect was exerted by the PAS domain proximal to the effector domain. The presence of one sensor domain modulated the signal response function of the other. Sequence and structural data on natural receptors with tandem PAS domains show that these are predominantly linked by short amphipathic alpha-helices. Signals from multiple sensor domains could be integrated and propagated to the effector domain as torques. Our results inform the rational design of receptors that integrate multiple signals to modulate cellular behavior.

Signal transduction in light-oxygen-voltage receptors lacking the adduct-forming cysteine residue.

Light–oxygen–voltage (LOV) receptors sense blue light through the photochemical generation of a covalent adduct between a flavin-nucleotide chromophore and a strictly conserved cysteine residue. Here we show that, after cysteine removal, the circadian-clock LOV-protein Vivid still undergoes light-induced dimerization and signalling because of flavin photoreduction to the neutral semiquinone (NSQ). Similarly, photoreduction of the engineered LOV histidine kinase YF1 to the NSQ modulates activity and downstream effects on gene expression. Signal transduction in both proteins hence hinges on flavin protonation, which is common to both the cysteinyl adduct and the NSQ. This general mechanism is also conserved by natural cysteine-less, LOV-like regulators that respond to chemical or photoreduction of their flavin cofactors. As LOV proteins can react to light even when devoid of the adduct-forming cysteine, modern LOV photoreceptors may have arisen from ancestral redox-active flavoproteins. The ability to tune LOV reactivity through photoreduction may have important implications for LOV mechanism and optogenetic applications.

Charting the Signal Trajectory in a Light-Oxygen-Voltage Photoreceptor by Random Mutagenesis and Covariance Analysis

Background: Modular receptors like the photoreceptor YF1 detect signals and process them into biological responses. Results: We identify numerous residues in the photosensor module of YF1 governing signal detection and processing. Conclusion: Spatial clustering of these residues delineates structurally contiguous regions in the photosensor crucially involved in signal transduction. Significance: The underlying mechanistic principles are widely shared in signal receptors. Modular signal receptors empower organisms to process environmental stimuli into adequate physiological responses. At the molecular level, a sensor module receives signals and processes the inherent information into changes of biological activity of an effector module. To better understand the molecular bases underpinning these processes, we analyzed signal reception and processing in the dimeric light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) blue light receptor YF1 that serves as a paradigm for the widespread Per-ARNT-Sim (PAS) signal receptors. Random mutagenesis identifies numerous YF1 variants in which biological activity is retained but where light regulation is abolished or inverted. One group of variants carries mutations within the LOV photosensor that disrupt proper coupling of the flavin-nucleotide chromophore to the protein scaffold. Another larger group bears mutations that cluster at the dyad interface and disrupt signal transmission to two coaxial coiled-coils that connect to the effector. Sequence covariation implies wide conservation of structural and mechanistic motifs, as also borne out by comparison to several PAS domains in which mutations leading to disruption of signal transduction consistently map to confined regions broadly equivalent to those identified in YF1. Not only do these data provide insight into general mechanisms of signal transduction, but also they establish concrete means for customized reprogramming of signal receptors.

Engineering of temperature- and light-switchable Cas9 variants

Sensory photoreceptors have enabled non-invasive and spatiotemporal control of numerous biological processes. Photoreceptor engineering has expanded the repertoire beyond natural receptors, but to date no generally applicable strategy exists towards constructing light-regulated protein actuators of arbitrary function. We hence explored whether the homodimeric Rhodobacter sphaeroides light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) domain (RsLOV) that dissociates upon blue-light exposure can confer light sensitivity onto effector proteins, via a mechanism of light-induced functional site release. We chose the RNA-guided programmable DNA endonuclease Cas9 as proof-of-principle effector, and constructed a comprehensive library of RsLOV inserted throughout the Cas9 protein. Screening with a high-throughput assay based on transcriptional repression in Escherichia coli yielded paRC9, a moderately light-activatable variant. As domain insertion can lead to protein destabilization, we also screened the library for temperature-sensitive variants and isolated tsRC9, a variant with robust activity at 29°C but negligible activity at 37°C. Biochemical assays confirmed temperature-dependent DNA cleavage and binding for tsRC9, but indicated that the light sensitivity of paRC9 is specific to the cellular setting. Using tsRC9, the first temperature-sensitive Cas9 variant, we demonstrate temperature-dependent transcriptional control over ectopic and endogenous genetic loci. Taken together, RsLOV can confer light sensitivity onto an unrelated effector; unexpectedly, the same LOV domain can also impart strong temperature sensitivity.