Optical Control of Peroxisomal Trafficking

The
blue-light-responsive LOV2 domain of Avena
sativa phototropin1 (AsLOV2)
has been used to regulate activity and binding of diverse protein
targets with light. Here, we used AsLOV2 to photocage
a peroxisomal targeting sequence, allowing light regulation of peroxisomal
protein import. We generated a protein tag, LOV-PTS1, that can be
appended to proteins of interest to direct their import to the peroxisome
with light. This method provides a means to inducibly trigger peroxisomal
protein trafficking in specific cells at user-defined times.