Optogenetics Club Lecture

Chair: Tobias Moser and Thomas Mager

Prof. Dr. Valentin Gordeliy from the IBS, Université Grenoble Alpes, France and Jülich Center for Structural Biology, Forschungszentrum Jülich will talk about “New Rhodopsins as Potential Tools for Optogenetics”.

Abstract

We will describe recent discoveries and properties of rhodopsins which are potential candidates as next generation optogenetic tools.

Comprehensive structure-function studies of the representatives of recently characterized xenorhodopsins (XeRs), a family of microbial rhodopsins will be presented. These proteins are inward proton pumps in E.coli cells, human embryonic kidney cells, neuroblastoma cells and rat hippocampal neuronal cells. XeRs are powerful pumps which are able to elicit action potentials in rat hippocampal neuronal cells up to their maximal intrinsic firing frequency, proving that the inwardly directed proton pumps are suitable for light induced remote control of neurons and are an alternative to the well-known cation selective channelrhodopsins. Some new XeRs and their possible optogenetic applications will be also discussed. In addition, we will provide for the first time the results of structure-function studies of viral rhodopsins and discuss their potential for optogenetic applications.