Use of biological photoreceptors as directly light-activated ion channels
AssigneeMax-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Wissenschaften e.V.
InventorsPeter Hegemann, Georg Nagel, Ernst Bamberg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention is directed to a method for altering the ion conductivity of a membrane. The method comprises inserting a biological photoreceptor into the membrane. The biological photoreceptor is configured to act as a light-controlled ion channel. The photoreceptor used comprises an apoprotein and a light-sensitive polyene covalently bound to the apoprotein, wherein the polyene interacts with the apoprotein and functions as a light-sensitive gate.
Claims13
A method for increasing or decreasing the ion conductivity of a membrane, which method comprises inserting one or more directly light-controlled ion channels into a membrane, wherein (i) the one or more directly light-controlled ion channels is a biological photoreceptor, (ii) the one or more directly light-controlled ion channels comprises an apoprotein and a light-sensitive polyene covalently bound to the apoprotein, said polyene interacting with the apoprotein and functioning as a direct light-sensitive gate, and (iii) the apoprotein includes at least amino acids 61 to 310 of the Channelopsin1 (CHOP-1) protein (SEQ ID NO:
- 1), thereby increasing or decreasing the ion conductivity of the membrane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.