De novo chemo-optogenetics through the rational design of photoresponsive molecules and selection of their artificial protein binding pairs
Shinya Tsukiji
Nature Chemistry, Published online: 23 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41557-026-02121-w Optical manipulation of proteins is central to modulating and characterizing biomolecular functions in cell biology, but tools based on natural proteins are difficult to reconfigure for desired photochemical and binding properties. Now, the design of photoresponsive molecules and selection of artificial protein binding partners enables de novo generation of chemo-optogenetic systems for programmable optical control