This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Light is fundamental to human life—without it, we'd be hungry, cold and blind. But what if the same light that sustains us could also be used to control and observe parts of cells within our bodies?
Researchers at the Texas A&M Health Institute of Biosciences and Technology have developed a tool that uses light to manipulate proteins and microtubules in cells, giving researchers new ways to observe the progression and effects of complex diseases like cancer and dementia. The study, published in Cell Reports Methods, was led by Yubin Zhou, MD, Ph.D., FAAAS, FAIMBE, FRSC, director of the Center for Translational Cancer Research at the Institute of Biosciences and Technology and a professor at the Texas A&M Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine, together with Yun Huang, Ph.D., FRSC, a professor and associate director of the Center for Epigenetics and Disease Prevention.
Microtubules are tiny structures within cells that form microscopic highways. They carry cargo, position cellular components and coordinate signals that control how cells grow, divide and respond to stimulation, Zhou explained. Sometimes, for various reasons, these highways break down, stalling traffic—like a train stopped on the tracks at a busy intersection.
While a stopped train will eventually be moved, it might take time for traffic patterns to return to normal, sometimes leading to a secondary fender bender. Similarly, a stall in a microtubule network can have serious consequences. Disrupted microtubules have been linked to cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's and dementia.
"Microtubules are not simply structural scaffolds; they are dynamic information and transportation networks that help organize nearly every aspect of cellular life," Zhou said. "Our goal was to develop a unified way to control different dimensions of microtubule biology using something as simple and precise as light." Traditional methods for studying microtubules rely on genetic modification, drugs or other approaches that may disturb normal cell behavior, can be difficult to reverse and often lack precise control, he said. Zhou's team instead used CRY2—a light-sensitive protein found in plants that rapidly gathers into clusters when exposed to blue light.
The researchers paired CRY2 with other proteins that interact with or regulate microtubules, creating tools that are inactive under normal circumstances but can be controlled when illuminated with a specialized blue light. The blue light acts as a remote control for four tools: OptoMT, OptoTIP, OptoMotor and OptoSAW. OptoMT illuminates the surrounding microtubule network, allowing scientists to view cargo traveling along a path.
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