Review
Cell Biology
Panagiotis Chandris, Christina C. Giannouli, George Panayotou
Summary: This article provides an overview of available tools for monitoring the dynamics of biochemical reactions and the kinetics of metabolites, and discusses the potential for developing new methodologies that combine classical biochemistry with advanced imaging.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biophysics
Nadine Bauer, Ivan Maisuls, Abel Pereira da Graca, Dirk Reinhardt, Raghu Erapaneedi, Nils Kirschnick, Michael Schafers, Carsten Grashoff, Katharina Landfester, Dietmar Vestweber, Cristian A. Strassert, Friedemann Kiefer
Summary: Hypoxia plays a crucial role in regulating cell metabolism, migration, and angiogenesis, and is involved in various pathological conditions. In this study, novel genetically-encoded reporters, dUnORS and dUnOFLS, were developed to accurately assess oxygen gradients in cells using ratiometric measurement and FRET-FLIM analysis. These reporters showed promising results in visualizing oxygen availability in vivo.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Birthe Meineke, Johannes Heimgartner, Alexander J. Craig, Michael Landreh, Lindon W. K. Moodie, Simon J. Elsasser
Summary: Bioorthogonal chemistry enables rapid and highly selective reactions in biological environments, with the CuAAC reaction commonly used to modify azides or alkynes introduced into biomolecules. Incorporating chemical handles into proteins via amber suppression, specifically introducing ncAAs in response to an amber stop codon, has proven useful for CuAAC chemistry on proteins. The incorporation of copper-chelating azides into proteins has not been explored extensively but using ncAA PazK has shown efficient protein labeling and improved reactivity with alkyne reagents in CuAAC.
FRONTIERS IN CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Wenfeng Liu, Chang Liu, Pei-Gen Ren, Jun Chu, Liang Wang
Summary: In this study, improved variants of the cAMP indicator G-Flamp1, namely G-Flamp2 and G-Flamp2b, were developed. G-Flamp2 showed increased fluorescence intensity and larger fluorescence changes compared to G-Flamp1, while G-Flamp2b exhibited increased fluorescence intensity but smaller fluorescence changes. Live cell imaging with G-Flamp2 confirmed the ability of cytosolic cAMP to enter the mitochondrial matrix and also revealed activation of the orphan GPCR GPR50 by adipose tissue extract in HEK293T cells.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Dermatology
Shivam A. Zaver, Christopher J. Johnson, Andre Berndt, Cory L. Simpson
Summary: Barrier tissues, like the epidermis, use complex signal transduction systems to perform morphogenetic programs and respond to environmental cues. Recent advancements in live-imaging techniques have allowed for precise monitoring and manipulation of signaling cascades using genetically encoded fluorescent biosensors and optogenetic protein constructs. This review paper discusses the principles behind these tools and how they have been used in cutaneous biology to study epidermal development, barrier formation, and tissue homeostasis.
JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE DERMATOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Cong Quang Vu, Satoshi Arai
Summary: Genetically encoded fluorescence lifetime biosensors provide a powerful tool for quantitative imaging, enabling precise measurement of cellular metabolites, molecular interactions, and dynamic cellular processes. This review gives an overview of the principles, applications, and advancements in quantitative imaging with genetically encoded fluorescence lifetime biosensors using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (go-FLIM), highlighting the distinct advantages of fluorescence lifetime-based measurements.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Xiaoke Bi, Connor Beck, Yiyang Gong
Summary: Genetically encoded fluorescent indicators, combined with optical imaging, have improved the detection of physiologically or behaviorally relevant neural activity with high spatiotemporal resolution. Protein engineering and screening strategies have enhanced the properties of genetically encoded fluorescent indicators, detecting neurotransmitter and calcium dynamics with high signal-to-noise ratio both in vitro and in vivo.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Qikun Yu, Kewei Ren, Mingxu You
Summary: Nucleic acid-based nanodevices have been widely used in biosensing and nanomedicine. The emergence of genetically encoded RNA nanodevices provides a promising alternative approach for intracellular analysis and regulation. These RNA-based nanodevices can be transcribed and continuously produced inside living cells, leading to highly precise and programmable applications.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mei Hong Zhu, Jinyoung Jang, Milena M. Milosevic, Srdjan D. Antic
Summary: Genetically-encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) and voltage indicators (GEVIs) have different strengths and weaknesses in measuring neuronal activity, leading to potential misleading imaging results. GECI imaging signals have better signal-to-noise ratio compared to GEVI signals, but they also attenuate more with distance from the stimulation site. Additionally, GECI imaging can exaggerate temporal summation effects, leading to misinterpretations of neuronal activity.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Arunika Ekanayake, Lena Sobze, Payam Kelich, Jihea Youk, Nicholas J. Bennett, Raja Mukherjee, Atul Bhardwaj, Frank Wuest, Lela Vukovic, Ratmir Derda
Summary: This study presents a novel late-stage approach to convert peptide libraries into diverse macrocyclic libraries, encoding amino acid sequences and pharmacophores through DNA, significantly enhancing the value of genetically encoded phage libraries in molecular discoveries.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Wen-Jing Zhou, Hua Li, Ke-Ke Zhang, Fenglin Wang, Xia Chu, Jian-Hui Jiang
Summary: Genetically encoded molecular tools are crucial for live cell RNA imaging, and this study develops a new sensor system using conformation switching RNA induced fluorogenic proteins that enable multicolor imaging and signal amplification of endogenous RNAs. The sensor is designed with an RNA sensing module and a degron-fused fluorescent protein reporter for high-contrast imaging of RNA abundance and dynamics in live cells. Furthermore, the sensor system is extended to a multicolor palette and engineered into a signal amplifier, providing a valuable platform for RNA imaging in biomedical research and clinical theranostics.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Anton A. Shemetov, Mikhail V. Monakhov, Qinrong Zhang, Jose Ernesto Canton-Josh, Manish Kumar, Maomao Chen, Mikhail E. Matlashov, Xuan Li, Wei Yang, Liming Nie, Daria M. Shcherbakova, Yevgenia Kozorovitskiy, Junjie Yao, Na Ji, Vladislav V. Verkhusha
Summary: The newly designed near-infrared genetically encoded calcium indicator performs well in neuroscience, allowing simultaneous detection of neuronal and hemodynamic activities with high brightness, photostability, and increased fluorescence response rate. It enables deep-tissue imaging, is suitable for dissociated neurons and in vivo mouse experiments, and allows for detection of spontaneous and evoked neuronal activity in the mouse visual cortex with up to 25% fluorescence changes.
NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Yan Peng, Linjuan Shu, Xiongfei Deng, Xin Huang, Xianming Mo, Feng Du, Zhuo Tang
Summary: We developed a genetically encoded sensor for sensitive imaging and tracking of endogenous RNA in living cells. This sensor can specifically recognize target RNAs and induce structural changes to enable fluorescence imaging. We successfully demonstrated its application in monitoring mRNA expression and confirming RNA distribution in cancer cells and zebrafish embryos, respectively. This study provides an effective molecular tool for RNA imaging and has potential applications in disease diagnosis and treatment evaluation.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
He Tian, Hunter C. Davis, J. David Wong-Campos, Pojeong Park, Linlin Z. Fan, Benjamin Gmeiner, Shahinoor Begum, Christopher A. Werley, Gabriel B. Borja, Hansini Upadhyay, Himali Shah, Jane Jacques, Yitong Qi, Vicente Parot, Karl Deisseroth, Adam E. Cohen
Summary: Video-based screening enables selection along multiple dimensions for directed evolution of biosensors. We developed a screening platform called Photopick for precise phenotype-activated photoselection over a large field of view. We used this platform to improve genetically encoded voltage indicators (GEVIs) and characterized synaptic coupling in neurons. The QuasAr6 GEVIs are powerful tools for all-optical electrophysiology and Photopick could be adapted for other biosensors.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Loic Duffet, Seher Kosar, Mariangela Panniello, Bianca Viberti, Edward Bracey, Anna D. Zych, Arthur Radoux-Mergault, Xuehan Zhou, Jan Dernic, Luca Ravotto, Yuan-Chen Tsai, Marta Figueiredo, Shiva K. Tyagarajan, Bruno Weber, Miriam Stoeber, Nadine Gogolla, Markus H. Schmidt, Antoine R. Adamantidis, Tommaso Fellin, Denis Burdakov, Tommaso Patriarchi
Summary: This study developed a genetically encoded orexin sensor called OxLight1, which enables sensitive and direct optical detection of orexin neuropeptides in living animals with high spatiotemporal resolution. The sensor was used in mouse experiments to show that orexin release is associated with behaviors such as running, stress, and sleep-to-wake transitions.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Marc Mueller, Samaneh Rasoulinejad, Sukant Garg, Seraphine Wegner
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Oya Ilke Sentuerk, Oliver Schauer, Fei Chen, Victor Sourjik, Seraphine Wegner
ADVANCED HEALTHCARE MATERIALS
(2020)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jie Liu, Lijun Ye, Yuling Sun, Minghan Hu, Fei Chen, Seraphine Wegner, Volker Mailaender, Werner Steffen, Michael Kappl, Hans-Juergen Butt
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2020)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jan Steinkuehler, Roland L. Knorr, Ziliang Zhao, Tripta Bhatia, Solveig M. Bartelt, Seraphine Wegner, Rumiana Dimova, Reinhard Lipowsky
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2020)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dongdong Xu, Julia Ricken, Seraphine V. Wegner
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
(2020)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Fei Chen, Seraphine Wegner
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dongdong Xu, Christin Kleineberg, Tanja Vidakovic-Koch, Seraphine Wegner
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Samaneh Rasoulinejad, Marc Mueller, Brice Nzigou Mombo, Seraphine Wegner
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Fei Chen, Rachel L. Warnock, Jan Roelof Van der Meer, Seraphine Wegner
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Malte Lenders, David Scharnetzki, Ali Heidari, Daniele Di Iorio, Seraphine Valeska Wegner, Eva Brand
Summary: This study generated a patient-derived antibody mixture as a reference for quantification of ADA titers, showing that ADAs from patients with FD have comparable affinities to agalsidase-alpha, agalsidase-beta and Moss-AGAL.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Daniele Di Iorio, Seraphine V. Wegner
Summary: This review discusses the applications of synthetic cells in various fields such as biomedicine and material science. Synthetic cells, with their reduced complexity and high functionality, can serve as microreactors and therapeutic carriers, as well as active components in the next generation of materials.
CURRENT OPINION IN CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Brice Nzigou Mombo, Brent M. Bijonowski, Christopher A. Raab, Stephan Niland, Katrin Brockhaus, Marc Mueller, Johannes A. Eble, Seraphine V. Wegner
Summary: E-cadherin-based cell-cell adhesions play essential roles in various biological processes, but the lack of tools for precise control has hindered the investigation of underlying mechanisms. In this study, a new optogenetic tool named opto-E-cadherin is introduced, which enables reversible control of E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesions using blue light. This tool provides remote control over cell aggregation, intracellular signaling, and F-actin organization, and can switch multicellular behavior and cell invasiveness. Opto-E-cadherin offers a powerful approach to studying the dynamics and spatiotemporal control of E-cadherin in biological processes.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dongdong Xu, Astrid Johanna Heck, Seah Ling Kuan, Tanja Weil, Seraphine Wegner
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(2020)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
T. Chakraborty, S. M. Bartelt, J. Steinkuehler, R. Dimova, S. V. Wegner
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(2019)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dongdong Xu, Solveig M. Bartelt, Samaneh Rasoulinejad, Fei Chen, Seraphine V. Wegner
MATERIALS HORIZONS
(2019)
