Abstract:

Research in the Tucker Lab focuses on the development of methods for inducible control of basic molecular and cellular processes, using optogenetic and/or chemical-based actuators. Advantages of such systems include on-demand temporal resolution, tunability, and in cases of optogenetic tools regulated by light, precise spatial resolution. This seminar will provide an overview of optogenetic tools developed in our lab that allow induction of protein-protein interactions and activities with spatiotemporal resolution. In addition, this talk will describe recent work developing a new suite of chemical and optogenetic methods for synthetic control of biomolecular condensates, non-membraneous cellular compartments important for cell health and associated with neurodegenerative disease states.