Light-switchable enzymes hold great promise for mediating molecular activations in living cells, yet their full potential in realizing versatile controls in nonlinear networks remains unexplored. Now, optical control is demonstrated over a key enzyme involved in animal cell division, and a diverse array of dynamic cell shapes is achieved by biochemically hacking an endogenous signalling circuit.
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Fig. 1: Optogenetically induced unguided surface-contraction wave across a starfish oocyte.
References
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This is a summary of: Liu, J. et al. Light-induced cortical excitability reveals programmable shape dynamics in starfish oocytes Nat. Phys. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-02807-x (2025).
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Optical control of an excitable enzyme circuit for engineering dynamic cell shapes. Nat. Phys. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-02810-2
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Published:28 March 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-02810-2
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