The Japanese biologist has experimentally confirmed that the method he developed for precise and rapid control over gene expression can be applied in practice. The main feature of the proposed method was the effect on RNA, and not on DNA. The article was published in the journal ACS Chemical Biology.
The manipulation of gene expression with existing technologies is limited by the speed of response to stimuli and the duration of the effect. In recent years, light control methods have appeared, but they were considered inapplicable in the case of embryonic development due to a delay of several hours between irradiation and the induced onset or cessation of protein synthesis. Also, existing technologies required preliminary genetic modification.
Shinji Ogasawara of Hokkaido University proposed to interfere with the translation of messenger RNA into protein instead of the conventional effect on the transcription of DNA into mRNA. This eliminated the need to make genetic modifications: the mRNAs themselves were altered in such a way that they bind to a specific signaling molecule when irradiated with ultraviolet light and could not bind when illuminated with blue light.
As a demonstration, the scientists raised a two-headed fish, controlling the expression of the required gene. It was also shown that protein production begins just a few minutes after the ultraviolet light is turned on and turns off several tens of minutes after blue light irradiation.
“Our method can be especially useful for guiding embryonic development, as well as revealing the importance of the onset and duration of gene expression. By applying this technology to higher organisms such as mice, we hope to clarify the role of each gene in the development of animals and various diseases,”explained Ogasawara.